Review: Working for the Devil

I picked up this book while wandering around the Strand bookstore in NYC and had one of those pleasurable "can't put it down" reads. Working for the Devil is a good example of a hot new area in fiction being labeled "urban fantasy." What I like about this genre is the fact that it tends to blend some of my favorite genres together. Urban fantasy typically stars a strong, independent lead heroine with a special skill or talent who has to fight the forces of evil, kick butt, and get action with hot (usually paranormal) dudes.

This book is different from some of the urban fantasies I've read recently in that it situates it's narrative in a futuristic, sci-fi-esque Earth (with cool gidgets and gadgets like "slicboards"--flying skateboards, and hovertrains, etc). The lead heroine, Dante (Danny) Valentine is a for-hire necromancer trying to make ends meet. Obviously we have a little Anita Blake nod here, but Dante's methods for raising the dead are different--and there's a whole different history for necromancers here which satisfied me enough to feel like Saintcrow wasn't just going to spin off into some Anita Blake fanfic in the guise of an original work.

As a character, I actually found Danny more likeable than Anita. Of course, it's still early in the series here. But Danny isn't anywhere near the Mary Sue that Anita is. She's pretty tough and has a troubled past that is only vaguely alluded to, but there are enough details that slip through to make me want to find out more about what happened to her at the mysterious and horrifying orphanage she was raised in. I'm sure that will come out in a later book.

As the title pretty much reveals, Danny's skills are hired out by the devil who needs the help of a necromancer to track down a demon who has escaped into the world of mortals. While this premise already had me feeling a bit less than enthused at first, I was extremely pleased to discover that Saintcrow doesn't reinforce some Christian universe of good and evil. No, it turns out that demons are actually something else entirely...and that Christianity (in the future) is seen as a rather outdated and uninformed worldview. For the agnostics like moi, I say hip-hip-hurrah Lilith Saintcrow! She totally earned brownie points in my book for this and it made me even more interested quite frankly.

So, Danny's hired without much option to say no (she can't really go up against the powers of a powerful demon). Of course, it turns out that the demon who has escaped is actually a crazy ass killer that she's had a run in with before and Danny has a score to settle. But the devil isn't going to just trust her with this task on her own, so he sends one of his demon underlings to watch over her and try to keep her alive long enough to whack the renegade demon on the loose.

Enter Japhrimel. The tension between him and Danny is pretty good, and they take a while to get used to one another. And of course, there's an erotic undercurrent brewing that takes an interesting turn later on, but I won't give any spoilers! Suffice to say, Japhrimel is interesting. He's incredibly secretive and rather mysterious. Like Danny, he has a past that is only vaguely sketched out. So there's much more to learn and Saintcrow did a nice job of maintaining my interest to the end.

Ahem. The end. Okay. I don't want to give anything away, but talk about fucking insane ending! I immediately wanted the second book, and I wanted it NOW! Alas, it looks like I'm going to have to wait until September or some bullshit. Fuck. I wish the publishing industry moved a bit faster.

So, to anyone interested in urban fantasy, I recommend checking out this book. Just beware, the ending is both exciting and incredibly frustrating!