Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Series

From the back cover:
With her first husband possessed by a demon and her current husband spending way too much time at home, Demon Hunter Kate Connor is having one hell of a month…

In between demon patrols and teaching self-defense classes for local moms, Kate has to deal with a teenage daughter, who is gung ho about being a demon slayer in training, and a toddler son entering a tantrum phase that rivals anything from the pits of hell.

To make matters worse, ever since her current husband, Stuart, learned about her secret life, he’s been practically smothering her with attention. That wouldn’t be so bad, except now Stuart’s fired up to learn everything he can about demons, and that kind of research can get a former desk jockey killed.

It’s a lot to juggle. And on top of it all, Kate has to find a way to release the demon possessing her first husband, Eric, without destroying the man inside. Because if the demon within Eric gets free, it just might be more than this seriously stressed suburban mom can handle…

Review:
In my review of the previous volume in the Tales of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series, I outlined a formula that Julie Kenner seems to be following in each installment. Let’s see how Demon Ex Machina fares.

1. A demon attacks Kate in her backyard.
Check! This time the demon does not demand information about an artifact required for a ritual, but it does provide a clue by naming the demon (Odayne) dwelling and growing within Kate’s late-but-alive-again husband, Eric.

2. Scattered investigation ensues, taking a backseat to domestic plans. These will include a dinner party.
Check! Most of the “investigation” (and the book) consists of Kate sitting around whining that the only way she knows of to vanquish Odayne is to stab him with some special dagger, but doing so will take Eric along with it. A dinner party is mentioned, but not seen on camera. This time, a house-flipping project is the main domestic subplot.

3. The word “kiddo” will be used a distracting number of times.
Semi-check! It’s used a lot less than in previous volumes, but pops up occasionally.

4. Kate will angst about keeping secrets from her husband.
Check! Stuart knows most everything now, though not about the occasional smoochies Kate enjoys with Eric. Her big secret is not telling her daughter, Allie, about Eric playing host to Odayne.

5. Someone Kate cares about will be kidnapped by the demons.
Check! I almost thought it wasn’t going to happen this time but twenty pages from the end, there it was. So close!

So, yes, more of the predictable, lackluster same. As before, what I find most interesting is Stuart’s reaction to Kate’s doings. Stuart himself isn’t really much of a character, but his pain regarding Kate’s lingering feelings for Eric and his attempts to reconcile himself to her demon-hunting duties supply the most compelling emotional moments this series has to offer. Allie, too, is becoming quite the competent Hunter in her own right and the novel’s conclusion promises further development in her skills as well as a possible departure from the formula I’ve just been criticizing. I am weak against promises such as these, so I’m sure I’ll be back for more when Kenner churns out the next one.

From the back cover:
It isn’t easy when your daughter’s figured out that her mom’s a demon hunter—and wants to grow up to be just like her. Or when you suspect your dead husband used the forces of darkness to filch the body of another human. Moreover, Kate’s acquired a precious but deadly item that every demon within commuting distance wants. With husband woes playing havoc with her emotions, an ambitious teenage protégée at her heels, and hell to pay, this stay-at-home mom is putting in a lot of overtime.

Review:
I really can’t explain how I wound up kind of addicted to this series. It’s got some major flaws: the demonic threats usually aren’t very interesting, the turns in the story are often predictable, and the protagonist is still pretty bland even after three books.

In this particular installment, a new hunter is introduced who could not possibly be more of a Faith clone, so her inevitable betrayal is not one bit surprising. There’s also no suspense regarding the item the demons are seeking, since the story structure goes like this:

1. An old ring with a ruby gemstone is found in ex-husband’s possessions.
2. Demons demand to be given “the stone.”
3. Good guys are clueless.
4. Readers roll their eyes. “Oh, golly gee, could it be the ring?!”

And yet… I’m kind of caught up in Kate’s dilemma over finding out the soul of her first husband is still around. The ending also promises all kinds of interesting things concerning this plot line, so I find myself actually annoyed that the next volume won’t be out until July. How did this happen?

From the back cover:
Welcome to San Diablo—the perfect place to raise a couple of kids and a lot of Hell, especially if you’re Kate Connor, retired demon hunter. Now, after fourteen years as a suburban housewife, raising two kids, and supporting her husband’s political ambitions, she’s rejoined the workforce… well, secretly, at least. Between fending off demon attacks, trying to figure out why the mysterious new teacher at the high school seems so strangely familiar, and keeping a watchful eye on her daughter’s growing infatuation with a surfer dude, Kate is the busiest—and most dangerous—soccer mom on the block.

Review:
This was a marked improvement over the first book in the series. The book started slowly, with most of the first half dealing with errands and other family issues and the demon stuff feeling like an afterthought. The action eventually picked up, but the plot never transcended its exceedingly flimsy state. However, this time it actually brought up all sorts of things that affected Kate personally, so I didn’t mind all that much.

Kate was still a rather bland protagonist, but I liked the major personal dilemma she had to face in this book, and also the interactions she had with her daughter. The introduction of rogue demon hunter, David Long, brought a lot to the story, and I also appreciated the continuity regarding the failing marriage of Kate’s best friend.

These books are still totally fluff, but they’re sometimes surprisingly thoughtful regarding how Kate’s first marriage still continues to cast its shadow over her life. I am now officially interested to see what happens next.

From the back cover:
Lots of women put their careers aside once the kids come along. Kate Connor, for instance, hasn’t hunted a demon in ages. That must be why she missed the one wandering through the San Diablo Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, he managed to catch her attention an hour later—when he crashed into the Connor house, intent on killing her. Now Kate has to dispose of a dead demon and pull together a dinner party—all without arousing her family’s suspicion. Worse yet, it seems the dead demon didn’t come alone. It’s time for Kate Connor to go back to work.

Review:
This book has been described as “what would happen if Buffy got married and kept her past a secret.” It bugs me when characters are compared to Buffy purely based on the fact that they have killed or do currently kill vampires and demons. They’re never really anything like her. Kate is far too flat a protagonist for any comparison to be valid. Sure, she kicks some butt, but she’s still pretty bland. Good supernatural horror should be used as a catalyst to explore character. Buffy did that. Carpe Demon does not.

The plot was pretty disjointed, and sometimes I just had to shake my head and go “Wha?”, like when Kate spontaneously decided to spring an old dude from a nursing home to come live with her family, or when she concluded based on no evidence that the nurses there were demon minions, or when it’s revealed she spent her orphaned childhood at the Vatican. Did she never discuss her childhood with her husband? Did she feed him lies? If so, this is never specifically addressed.

It wasn’t all bad, though. I did like the parts where Kate ponders the void in her second marriage (second hubby doesn’t know about her past, but the first one was a fellow demon hunter) and seriously worries that the threads of her past life will unravel her cozy present. Sometimes the writing was amusing, but also employed tired old clunkers like, “I’d tell you but I’d have to kill you.” Also, the demon voices on the unabridged audio were nifty and freakin’ creepy!

Though this book really wasn’t that great, it entertained me well enough that I’ll check out the second in the series for free from the library.