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Monday, August 29, 2011

Review of The Demon Trapper's Daughter, by Jana Oliver

The Demon Trapper's Daughter (The Demon Trappers #1)
Demon Trapper Riley Blackthorne just needs a chance to prove herself—and that’s exactly what Lucifer is counting on…It’s the year 2018, and with human society seriously disrupted by the economic upheavals of the previous decade, Lucifer has increased the number of demons in all major cities. Atlanta is no exception. Fortunately, humans are protected by Demon Trappers, who work to keep homes and streets safe from the things that go bump in the night. Seventeen-year-old Riley, only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing attraction to fellow Trapper apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving citizens from Grade One Hellspawn. Business as usual, really, for a demon-trapping teen. When a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood, she realizes that she’s caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell. (From GoodReads)
My Review
For quite a while now, I've been hearing readers sing the praises of The Demon Trapper's Daughter.  So when I saw a copy at Barnes & Noble recently, I decided to see if the book lived up to the hype. It did, for the most part.

Author Jana Oliver built her fictional world in quite a clever way. She made the economic turbulence of the past three years almost the catalyst for the demonic presence. Atlanta in 2018 is depressing place to be. The citizens rely on the famous Demon Trappers to keep them safe. That mission is in Riley Blackthorne's blood.

Riley is brave, resourceful girl. She has a great come-back to almost any verbal assault. Riley has gone through more than any girl her age, or any age, should have to go through. But she always picks herself up and carries on. She never, ever comes across as whiny or self-absorbed. Riley Blackthorne is a Rockstar!

I'm a little ashamed to say this, but my favorite part of the story is the demons. Not the big baddies, the little guys. In particular, the biblio-fiends. A biblio-fiend is a hissing, pissing, profanity spewing, middle finger extending demon that destroys books. The best way to trap them is to read them to sleep. But you don't want to read a romance novel, that just revs them up! Something calmer, lengthier is what does the job. Riley's weapon of choice is Moby Dick, which I thought was perfect because that is the only book I could not read for an assignment. Oh, and after you get the biblio-fiend to sleep, they get stored in a sippy cup! Too clever.

The Demon Trapper's Daughter has some dark, tragic moments, as well. The pain that Riley must endure over and over is almost unthinkable. When the bad boys of demons come out, it's the stuff of nightmares.

Here's what bothered me about this book, Denver Beck. He is a partner to Riley's father and the thorn in her side. Beck is what you would consider a "good ole country boy". Beck himself actually grew on me, how his dialogue was written most decidedly did not. When Beck spoke, his "you's" were "ya's" and his "your's" were "yer's". I'm from the South, I know how some people sound. It just really, really annoyed me to read it. I found myself focusing on that annoyance instead of the dialogue.

Having said that, The Demon Trapper's Daughter was an extremely fun read. The action and dialogue (not withstanding Denver's) was gripping. The ending is filled with tons of action, and danger and a twist that I did NOT see coming. I'm looking very forward to reading the sequel, Soul Thief.

Favorite Quotes:

"As if on cue, the Offending Minion of Hell promptly sent an arc of phosphorescent green urine in their direction. Luckily, Demons of this size had equally small equipment, which meant limited range, but they both took a cautious step backward."

"Riley locked eyes with him. 'I learned that Holy Water better be fresh, that I need to practice throwing the spheres, and that someone has to watch my back, so asshats don't steal my demons.' "


You can find The Demon Trapper's Daughter at:

Paperback, US Edition, 340 pages
Published February 1st 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin

* The Demon Trapper's Daughter is a book that I purchased myself. *

2 comments:

  1. The book has an awesome cover. Since I live near Atlanta, I should probably pick this one up. It sounds really good. I agree with you about poorly executed accents though. I can't stand to watch a show/movie or read a book where the actor/writer clearly has no idea how Southerners talk. Hahahaha!

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  2. Kendall,
    Yes, the cover is gorgeous, I love it. I would definitely want to read a book set near my home. I know some people do talk like that, but it is SO distracting, for me, as a reader.

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