Reviewed by Chris

TITLE:  Dancer of Death

SERIES:  SPECTR 2 #2

AUTHOR:  Jordan L. Hawk

PUBLISHER:  Widdershins Press

LENGTH:  106 pages

RELEASE DATE:  February 16, 2016

BLURB:  

Revenge. Murder. Ballet?

Vampire spirit Gray wants to hunt demons. Unfortunately, the foolish mortals at SPECTR have put his host, Caleb, their lover John, and their partner Zahira on desk duty. Gray longs to leave Charleston with John, but if they flee, SPECTR will make them the hunted.

A series of paranormal murders returns the team to the field, at least temporarily. Ballerinas are being murdered by a vila, a demon that kills with dance. If they can’t stop the deadly attacks in time, one of Zahira’s friends may become the next victim.

And while they track the demon, an unknown entity has begun to track Gray…

REVIEW:  

She’ll make you dance is she wants to, but then she’ll leave your corpse behind…

Turns out fighting a NHE in the middle of a crowded bridge is just enough to get John, Caleb, Gray, and Zahira grounded. Desk duty is never fun, but for Caleb, being stuck in the middle of an office that is alternately pissing their pants when he walks by or tagging his door with insults, it seems like cruel and unusual punishment. Gray just wants to eat something, but that isn’t exactly new. So when they get a call out in the middle of the night about a dead body found in suspicious circumstances they are pretty damn thrilled. Not that Caleb needs to see another dead body any time soon.

But dead bodies and inhumanly flexible dancers are only half the problems that Team Gray will face. With enemies at front and back it might take a miracle to pull this one off.

Not to mention Gray is gonna get a bit bitey if people don’t stop hitting on/threatening John–but that might just be the hunger speaking.

Oh but this waiting for books to be published (or, you know, written) thing kinda sucks. I love this series and have been eagerly awaiting the continued fate of our trio of boys (and drakul) after their oh-so-public run-in with the Raven Mocker in book one (of series 2). Though I guess I should call it a quartet of peoples/drakuls since Zahira seems determined to stick around (yay!).

But, yeah, as a surprise to no-one, Barillo continues to be a pain in everyone’s nicely-rounded ass-cheeks, and has no compunction about telling John, Caleb, or Gray just how he feels about them. Which mostly involves threats of imprisonment and other not very fun things. Nothing like working for a boss that wouldn’t mind at all if you were to drop of the face of the planet (with a foot-shaped bruise on your ass).

This early in the series we can’t quite be sure who is on the side of angels, demons, or just plain-annoying bureaucracy, but there are quite a few contenders for the Things That Will Come Back to Bite Their Lovely Tushies.

(Look, all I am saying is no-one is that friendly and welcoming unless they are secretly evil and set on world domination. Trust me, I know from experience. Self-help groups are where evil and bad coffee go to breed.)

At this point in the series (both the finished first one, and the ongoing second) I have no clue who isn’t reading these books, but hell, if you are out there I suggest you rectify that horrible horrible mistake right now. John, Gray, and Caleb are refreshingly unique, entirely hot, and more than a little addicting. These books keep me on the tips of my toes (and not in a I’m gonna make you dance your ass (toes, and probably feet) off kind of way).

And my only complaint is the fact that I have to wait months between books to find out what happens next.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

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