Product Description

The beautiful. The bad. The possessed.

Some people worship them. Some people fear them. And some people—like Morgan Kingsley—go up against them toe-to-toe, flesh to flesh, and power against power. An exorcist by trade, Morgan is one of the few humans with an aura stronger than her possessor, even though her demon can tease her body senseless. She’s also a woman who has just discovered a shocking truth: everything she once believed about her past, her identity, may have been a lie.

With a family secret exploding around her and a full-scale demon war igniting, Morgan is a key player in an unsettled world. Then a rogue sociopathic demon enters her life with a bang. His name is The Hunter. And since she is the prey, Morgan has only one choice: to hunt The Hunter down—no matter what heartbreaking truths she uncovers along the way….

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #120224 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-29
• Released on: 2008-07-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 336 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780553590456
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Jenna Black is your typical writer. Which means she's an "experience junkie." She got her BA in physical anthropology and French from Duke University.

Once upon a time, she dreamed she would be the next Jane Goodall, camping in the bush making fabulous discoveries about primate behavior. Then, during her senior year at Duke, she did some actual research in the field and made this shocking discovery: primates spend something like 80% of their time doing such exciting things as sleeping and eating.

Concluding that this discovery was her life's work in the field of primatology, she then moved on to such varied pastimes as grooming dogs and writing technical documentation. She writes paranormal romance for Tor and urban fantasy for Bantam Dell.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter One


There's no denying Dominic Castello is a treat to look at—the classic tall, dark, and handsome. Soulful hazel eyes framed by thick lashes, warm olive skin, muscles in all the right places . . . But on seeing him standing in my doorway, my first impulse was to slam the door in his face.

He must have read my expression, for he wedged his foot in the door and smiled at me. He has a sweet, disarming smile that would turn most women to jelly, but I'm not most women. Besides, his equally good-looking boyfriend was the sadomasochistic demon host who'd shot my brother. That put Dominic near the bottom of the list of people I wanted to see, with only his boyfriend, Adam, and pretty much my entire family below him.

Unfortunately, with him being over six feet tall and at least two hundred pounds, I wasn't keeping him out of my apartment now that I'd been stupid enough to open the door in the first place.
Giving in to the inevitable, I moved away from the door, letting him enter—though I didn't actually invite him in. I headed to my minuscule kitchen, where a half-full pot of coffee left over from breakfast still sat on the warmer.

"Wanna cup?" I asked without looking at him.

"Sure. Thanks."

I filled two mugs, noticing that the coffee was dark as ink and smelled stale. If it were just me, I'd make a fresh pot, but I didn't want Dominic staying that long.

"Cream and sugar?"

Dominic looked at the tar-scented swill in the cup I handed him and shook his head. "I doubt it would help much."

That almost made me smile. "So, what brings you to this part of town?" I took a sip of the coffee to prove it was drinkable and tried not to gag when I discovered it wasn't.

When Dominic didn't immediately answer, my nerves went on red alert. Apparently, this wasn't a social call, which I suppose I'd known all along.

"Maybe we should sit down for a bit," he suggested.

I really hated the sound of that—and the way he wouldn't quite meet my eyes. My stomach gave an unhappy gurgle, and my fingers clenched on the coffee cup. I put it down before I took a sip by reflex.

For the last few weeks, I'd been trying my best to live under a rock. I'd had enough stress lately to last me a lifetime—or three. Realistically, I knew my problems were far from over, but I'd been determined to hold them at bay for as long as possible—ideally, until I was on my deathbed.

See, here's the thing. I'm an exorcist. My calling in life, my very raison d'etre, is to kick demon ass. Only the ones who possess unwilling hosts or who commit violent crimes, of course, but in reality I don't like legal demons much better. So as you can imagine, my life became a little complicated when I found out I was possessed by the king of the demons, who was embroiled in a war for the throne of the Demon Realm.

For reasons neither of us understands, the demon king, Lugh, can't take control of me the way a demon normally dominates a host. Even though I'm possessed, I remain in total control of my body. For the most part, Lugh can only take command when I'm asleep, and can only communicate with me through dreams.

From the moment I'd found out I was possessed, my life had shot straight to hell and stayed there. My best friend had tried to kill me. My house was burned to the ground. I was thrown in jail for murder. My boyfriend, Brian—actually, he's my ex-boyfriend now, though I have yet to convince him of this fact—was kidnapped and tortured in an attempt to get to me. And to win his aid in rescuing Brian, I'd let Dominic's boyfriend whip me bloody for his own amusement.

All in all, I was desperately in need of some R&R. But since I wasn't getting Dominic out of my apartment through brute force, I figured the quickest way to get rid of him was to listen to what he had to say.

I'm sure I looked pretty sulky and mulish as I led him into my living room and gestured him toward my couch. I dropped into the love seat and suffered a momentary pang of yearning for the homey, comfortable furniture that had been destroyed when my house burned down. I'd rented this apartment furnished, and nothing in it reflected my tastes. This love seat, for example, was hard enough to numb my ass. I hoped the sofa would have the same effect on Dominic.

"So we're sitting down," I said, folding my arms across my chest. "Why don't you tell me why you're here?"

He put his cup on the coffee table—I don't think he'd been stupid enough to take a sip, like I had—then turned so he could face me full-on. I didn't like the intensity of his expression, so instead of looking at him, I idly tugged at a loose thread on the arm of the love seat.

"Adam has found out something he thinks you should know," Dominic said.

I pulled on the thread a little harder, and the fabric started to unravel. With a grunt of disgust, I stopped fidgeting and gave Dom my best steely-eyed glare. "If Adam thinks I should know, why isn't he the one sitting here?"

Dominic grinned. "He thought I was more likely to get through your door."

I couldn't help a rueful chuckle. There have been times when I've said some terrible things to Dominic, but he's never deserved them. When I'd first met him, he'd been a willing demon host, and I had despised him for being the kind of weak-minded, suicidal fool who was willing to give up his entire identity to host a demon. Because the human personality was (in all cases except my own) completely buried beneath the demon's, I'd considered the human hosts as good as dead. Many people—including my entire family—considered those who sacrificed themselves to host "Higher Powers," as they called demons, to be great heroes. Because demons are so much stronger and so much more resilient than humans, the hosts can take on extremely dangerous tasks. But I'd always considered them sheep.

After some of the things he had done for me—and for Brian, a man he didn't even know—I now believed Dominic was a genuine hero, even without his demon. And despite my feelings about Adam, I had to admit that, most of the time, I rather liked Dom.

"Adam could have tried phoning," I said, attempting to maintain my grumpy demeanor.

Dominic just laughed. "And you would have hung up on him and taken the phone off the hook."
Probably true. "All right, you win. Tell me what he found out. I assume it's important or you wouldn't be here."

The humor faded from his face. "Yeah." He cleared his throat, and once again his eyes slid away from mine. "This is going to be kind of awkward."

"Great."

"Adam's been doing some, er, investigation."

Along with all his other sterling qualities, Adam is also the Director of Special Forces, the branch of the Philly police department responsible for demon-related crime. The fact that he's hosting a demon himself has never seemed like a conflict of interest to the Powers That Be, though I wasn't the only citizen who questioned the wisdom of his appointment.

"What kind of investigation?" I prompted when Dominic seemed to be struggling to continue.

He huffed out a breath, and one corner of his mouth tipped up in a wry smile. "I can't think of a way to tell you this without risking bodily injury, so I'm just going to blurt it out." And honest to God, the man tensed up as if ready to defend himself. "He's been investigating you and your family."

I blinked a couple of times as I let that sink in. A low simmer started in my chest, but either I was getting more serene in my old age, or Dominic had given the statement so much buildup that nothing he said could be as bad as I expected. Knowing me, the latter is more likely.

"Investigating how? And why?"

He was still watching me warily, which meant there was more to this story he didn't think I would like. "He's been wondering why Raphael chose you to be Lugh's host."

Dougal—Lugh's oldest brother and second in line for the throne—had hatched an insidious plan to take over as king of the Demon Realm. He'd planned to summon Lugh into a human host, and then burn that host alive, which, counter to popular wisdom, is the only way to kill a demon. Raphael, Lugh's youngest brother, had ostensibly been Dougal's accomplice, but instead of arranging for Lugh to take over the chosen host, he'd stuck Lugh in my body.

Turned out Raphael had always been on Lugh's side, and had summoned him into me to save his life. Somehow, Raphael had known Lugh wouldn't be able to take me over, and because of that inability, he would remain hidden from his enemies. Even when Raphael had revealed his true loyalties, he'd refused to tell Lugh how he'd known.

"I'm sure we've all been wondering that," I said cautiously. "What does my family have to do with anything?"

"You mean other than the fact that your brother was Raphael's host?"

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean!"

"Yes. Well. Adam figured that Raphael must have found out something interesting when he insinuated himself into your family, so Adam hoped to find out what that interesting something was."

My heart seemed to be beating louder than it should, but it was probably my imagination. "And? What did he find?"

Dominic looked even more uncomfortable. "I love Adam, but I wish he hadn't sent me to do this. . . ."
I made a little sound of frustration. "Just tell me, already! Waiting for the other shoe to drop is killing me."

Dominic clasped his hands in his lap and regarded them with concentration. "He found an old, buried police report from twenty-eight years ago. About a rape." He squirmed. "The victim was your mother."

The...

Customer Reviews

Second in series
Morgan Kingsley is an exorcist with a rather unusual attribute - she's the host of the king of the demons, Lugh. In Jenna Black's world demons are beings who can live inside a human and can take over their body, giving them extra strength and the ability to heal themselves from most injuries. There are many laws about demons and humans and Morgan's job is to exorcise illegal demons. However since she found out that she is hosting Lugh her life has become more and more complex. Lugh isn't able to take over her actions unless she's asleep or in a very specific time of stress. In the previous book in the series, The Devil Inside, Morgan found herself working with demon Adam, his lover Dominic and with Lugh to try to protect Lugh. In this story her brother Andrew, now in a coma after his demon Raphael left him, wakes up and tells Morgan that he hated Raphael. Morgan also discovers that a demon known as Der Jäger has been put on the trail of Lugh and is no doubt after her. She teams up with Adam to try to find out what's going on in the battle between Lugh and his brother Dougal to be king, as well as trying to take care of Andrew and also worrying about her former boyfriend Brian. When Morgan discovers that some events in her history may have a bearing on why she is able to host Lugh she has to try to unravel what's been going on for over twenty years with Raphael, Dougal and Lugh and at the same time try to keep those she loves safe.

I very much enjoyed this follow up book and found that the story was progressing well, although the interactions between Morgan and Lugh are fairly sparse overall. Morgan's hot-tempered and feisty nature was well written and her moral dilemmas throughout were interesting. I liked the way in which Morgan's difficult relationship with Adam White is changing as she learns more about the demon world and about the good and evil within it. This book was definitely a continuation of the previous story and it might be a little difficult for newcomers to the series to follow everything in this book but overall it was an excellent continuation of the story, although without overall completion of the plot.

Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book © Helen Hancox 2008

Catch a Ride with an Exorcist and a Demon Passenger as They Try to Curb a Nasty Demon War...
There are a lot of paranormal authors out there in literary land who have delved into the demon plain. In the demon realm we do have a few heavy hitters: Lilith Saintcrow (one of my favs), Kim Harrison (of course), Keri Author, Rachel Cain, naughty Emma Holly (smoldering) and a spattering of more, but Jenna Black clearly has a distinctiveness of her own.

It's refreshing! I love championing the veritable bad boy/and or girl, and Black's Morgan Kingsley series is a virtual horn of plenty. It's got a plausible back-story of demon lore with a hierarchical pantheon, a potential coup in Hell, demons fighting each other on the Mortal Plain, professional exorcists like Morgan running the bad guys out of our realm, law enforcement officers possessed by lesser flight demons, and last but not least, Black's reality envisions middle-American WalMart "walk-abouts" embracing demon possession as a hip and holy lifestyle. Throw in a dash of S&M, and this series is cookin'.

Morgan is the type of exorcist heroine that readers (especially female) gravitate towards: self-powerful, independent, sexually potent and aware, but just as willing to kick you on your butt with a pair of her size nine motorcycle boots.

For fans, this book is a natural progression from The Devil Inside. Morgan starts to acquaint herself with her unlikely demon passenger, and starts molding a bearable lifestyle with him. But she still needs to unravel the mystery of not only how to get him OUT but how to help him prevent a full-scale war in Hell-a war that might just spill over into the Mortal Plain. What further complicates things is that Morgan is surrounded by frenemies, and a diabolical secret surfaces that her parents have been hiding from her...Revelations will be had.

After reading the Devil You Know TWICE I sat back with a smug smile. I am hoping Black won't paint herself into a corner with Lugh, because fans will be panting for more after this second book. How will Lugh and Morgan consummate their relationship? When are we going to see what he really looks like? How will Black keep the tension up if Lugh slips his noose? It's tricky-tricky. What would be devilishly naughty is if Lugh were to "borrow" Adam's body for a bit of extracurricular activities with Morgan. I'm snickering just thinking about it. Copyright (c) Nicola Mattos

Excellent sequel
This is a continuation of the Morgan Kingsley Exorcist series after the first book The Devil Inside. Morgan exorcises illegal demons that have set up residence inside humans on the Mortal Plain. Ironically, Morgan is now a host for the Demon King Lugh. However, she cannot be possessed the same as other hosts. She maintains her ability to know all and control her own body and mind. We find out more about Raphael, Lugh's younger brother, and how human hosts really feel about the demons that have taken over their bodies. Adam and his boyfriend Dominic are back and Morgan continues her tentative relationship with them, in particular Adam. A few reviewers from The Devil Inside found the gay relationship between Dominic and Adam somewhat excessive. There is one scene that is descriptive but I did not find it offensive. The sex was more subdued in this book. A new psychotic demon, Der Jager is sent from the Demon Realm to find out who carries the Demon King and destroy both the demon king and host. The politics of the Demon Realm with King Lugh, his younger brother Raphael and Dougal continue as Dougal attempts to overthrow Lugh and Raphael plays both sides. This story was very entertaining and has an interesting twist on the paranormal. This is a very good series. I have enjoyed both books immensely.