Thursday, October 22, 2009

The Highwayman by Michele Hauf

The Highwayman is in the Silhouette Nocturne line and is the first in the Wicked Games series. The Wicked Games series takes place in the same paranormal world as Hauf's Bewitching the Dark series. I haven't read any of those but have one in my TBR pile and look forward to reading them all.

Max Fitzroy is a French highwayman who is possessed by a demon (actually part of a demon) in 1758. After that he can no longer eat, sleep or have an orgasm. On the other hand, he is immortal and has superhuman strength. He is driven by revenge and goes around the world killing demons and familiars. Familiars are cat shape-shifters who bring demons into this world during a magic sex ritual. Aby is a Familar who has a werewolf protector. Max tracks her down planning to use her to call up the demon whose shadow lives inside him and then kill her.

What I loved about this book was the originality. The Highwayman and his super cool whip are unique and a welcome change from vamps and weres. Although Aby is a shifter, the Familiars are also new and fascinating. I was not too happy with Max having killed so many of them, though. It's a fast paced book with lots of fun action and surprises. Aby was an enchanting heroine, so innocent in many ways in spite of being so sexually experienced. I especially liked the part of the book that took place in Paris. The only complaint I have is that the ending seemed rushed and I would have liked to find out a little more about what happened to them.

I'll rate it 8.0 out of 10 and will look for the next in the series, Moon Kissed, which is the story of Severo, Aby's werewolf friend.

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