Review: Unclean Spirits

Unclean Spirits by M.L.N. Hanover

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



GoodReads Synopsis: Jayné Heller thinks of herself as a realist, until she discovers reality isn't quite what she thought it was. When her uncle Eric is murdered, Jayné travels to Denver to settle his estate, only to learn that it's all hers -- and vaster than she ever imagined. And along with properties across the world and an inexhaustible fortune, Eric left her a legacy of a different kind: his unfinished business with a cabal of wizards known as the Invisible College.

Led by the ruthless Randolph Coin, the Invisible College harnesses demon spirits for their own ends of power and domination. Jayné finds it difficult to believe magic and demons can even exist, let alone be responsible for the death of her uncle. But Coin sees Eric's heir as a threat to be eliminated by any means -- magical or mundane -- so Jayné had better start believing in something to save her own life.

Aided in her mission by a group of unlikely companions -- Aubrey, Eric's devastatingly attractive assistant; Ex, a former Jesuit with a lethal agenda; Midian, a two-hundred-year-old man who claims to be under a curse from Randolph Coin himself; and Chogyi Jake, a self-styled Buddhist with mystical abilities -- Jayné finds that her new reality is not only unexpected, but often unexplainable. And if she hopes to survive, she'll have to learn the new rules fast -- or break them completely....

My Thoughts: Ooh...love a good Urban Fantasy series and I really liked this one!

I've already started the second book in this series having read this one in one sitting. Anyway, Hanover jumped right into the action on this one. We, the audience, learned on the fly just like Jayne did.

See Jayne didn't know much about her Uncle Eric. Other than he was the one that usually rode in and smoothed things over when her life was in turmoil. So Jayne was very surprised to find out Eric was dead, left everything to her, and he was worth MILLIONS.

It's only later that strange things start happening and Jayne learns about riders and the demons from "next door", and Uncle Erics unlikely band of demon-stalkers.

The great thing is that while all the characters involved knew Eric, they all knew a different part of Eric...no really KNEW Eric. So they are sharing what parts of Eric they knew as we, the audience, are getting to know all the characters.

Another thing I am enjoying about this series is that the author is not only tackling secular "demons", he's dragging in demon-like mythologies from all sorts of religions, cultures, etc. Leaving the door wide open to a variety of stories without running out of bad guys.

By the end of the action packed first book, we haven't learned a great deal about the characters, which I believe was intentional. I think as we peel back the layers on Uncle Eric and his work, those same layers will be revealed on our characters.

I'm anxious to dive more into book 2 and see what I get to learn! I really think I will be enjoying this series even more than some others I've read.



View all my reviews