Personal Demon

January 21, 2008
Chaos rules in Armstrong’s complex eighth Women of the Otherworld installment (after 2007’s No Humans Involved
). The formidable Benicio Cortez once helped “tabloid-reporting, gun-toting, chaos demon spy girl” Hope Adams out of a jam, so she agrees to go undercover and join a supernatural youth gang that’s been causing problems for Cortez’s multinational corporation. Assuming the persona of bratty rich co-ed Faith Edmonds, Hope works her way into the gang, participates in heists and soon finds herself dangerously attracted to one of the other members, cute Jasper “Jaz” Haig. All too soon, Jaz’s diabolical plans lead to a shocking tragedy. Armstrong excels in depicting Hope’s transformations, but new readers might want to read earlier books to get context for all the mayhem.

March 1, 2008
Half chaos-craving demon, half-human tabloid reporter Hope Adams, who clandestinely works for a council of paranormal beings, goes undercover for the Cortez Cabal by infiltrating a gang of paranormals. She is soon joined in Miami by ex-lover Karl Marsten, a master thief and lone werewolf; Lucas Cortez, sorcerer heir to the Cortez Cabal; and Paige Winterbourne, the witches delegate to the council. Hope likes the young gang members, who run a nightclub and pull capers on the side. When two of the them are kidnapped, suspicions flare. A series of murders and an invasion into cabal CEO Benicio Cortezs home leave Hope wondering which side is the right side to be on. As she fights her craving for the orgasmic thrill of chaos, the pace of events accelerates, turning this into a page-turning thriller. Fans of the paranormal will delight in the eighth Women of the Underworld yarn, with its ass-kicking, Bollywood-beautiful, former-socialite heroine and full complement of sorcerers, witches, werewolves, and other paranormal beings.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

Starred review from April 7, 2008
United in their obsession with a grisly Italian serial murder case almost three decades old, thriller writer Preston (coauthor, Brimstone
) and Italian crime reporter Spezi seek to uncover the identity of a vicious serial killer in this chilling true crime saga. The murders took place outside of Florence where Preston had moved with his family. From 1974 to 1985, seven pairs of lovers parked in their cars in secluded areas were brutally killed. With all of the chief suspects acquitted or released from prison on appeal, the authors began to snoop around, although witnesses had died and evidence was missing. Preston and Spezi's sleuthing continued until ruthless prosecutors turned on the nosy pair, jailing Spezi and grilling Preston for obstructing justice. Only when Dateline NBC
became involved in the maze of mutilated bodies and police miscues was the authors' hard work rewarded. This suspenseful procedural reveals much about the dogged writing team as well as the motives of the killers. Better than some overheated noir mysteries, this bit of real-life Florence bloodletting makes you sweat and think, and presses relentlessly on the nerves.