Hanover, M.L.N.: Darker Angels
Darker Angels: Book Two of the Black Sun's Daughter (2009)
Written by: M.L.N. Hanover
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Pages: 360 (Mass Market Paperback)
It wasn't too long ago that I gobbled up Hanover's debut, Unclean Spirits, and loved it. So it shouldn't be a big surprise that I would gobble up the second in the series (or is it trilogy?) in less than twenty-four hours, is it? After all, the holidays are meant for reading! :)
The premise: ganked from BN.com, because I'm lazy like that (and have a LOT of reviews to catch up on!): When Jayné Heller's uncle Eric died, she inherited a fortune beyond all her expectations - and a dangerous mission in a world she never knew existed. Reining in demons and supernatural foes is a formidable task, but thankfully Jayné has vast resources and loyal allies to rely on. She'll need both to tackle a bodyswitching serial killer who's taken up residence in New Orleans, a city rich in voodoo lore and dark magic.
Working alongside Karen Black, a highly confident and enigmatic ex-FBI agent, Jayné races to track down the demon's next intended host. But the closer she gets, the more convinced she becomes that nothing in this beautiful, wounded city is exactly as it seems. When shocking secrets come to light, and jealousy and betrayal turn trusted friends into adversaries, Jayné will soon come face-to-face with an enemy that knows her all too well, and won't rest until it has destroyed everything she loves most....
Review style: I'll be nice and won't get into any spoilers, save for a few minor things that aren't spoilers to begin with. Fair? If you're spooked, just skip to the "My Rating" section at the bottom of the review and you'll be good to go.
Remember how Unclean Spirits was dedicated to John Constantine? Well, this one is dedicated to Anita Blake and Harry Angel. Color me delighted. Even though I refuse to read a Laurell K. Hamilton book and I have no idea who Harry Angel is. The point is that Hanover is regularly dedicating his (yes, his: Hanover is the pen name for Daniel Abraham) books to fictional characters, and I hope this continues.
Major nitpick: given that we're in the first person POV, I really hate it when the POV goes out of its way to REMIND ME that the narrator is narrating what has already happened. Yes, the obvious clue is the past tense, but unless the narrator REMINDS me, I get swept away in the current action and don't dwell on the fact that I'm getting this story told from some point in the future. But there are THREE INSTANCES, including the ending of the freaking book, where our narrator says something along the lines of, "if only I'd known what was REALLY happening, I could've saved us a lot of heartache."
That sort of thing drives me BATTY. And Hanover does this at the very end of the book. If the author had been in the room with me? I would have punched him in the shoulder, because the last line of the book is so damn infuriating. And I'm guessing that since this book came out in the fall of 2009, I'm going to have to wait until the fall of 2010 to read the third installment, Vicious Grace (which I'm a wee bit disappointed in, title-wise: the titles so far have been focused on first spirits, then angels, so I was hoping for demons this time around. Oh well).
Anyway.
The start of the book had me a little worried, but I'll admit that since I was on the quest to 100, I was reading as fast as I could and not processing things as I should have been. In a way, I was like Jayné, who was run ragged and not paying attention to the things she should have been. So much of the book's central plot had me scratching my head at first, wondering if all of this was a good idea, and then things FINALLY clicked together in such a way that it brought this book back to the level of the first. Sure, I'm certain other readers would see the twists a mile away, but I didn't, so I was quite delighted with the turn of events in the book. Once more, I find myself enjoying Hanover's cast of characters, delighting in their humanity even when it makes them ugly, and hoping that some of the newbies make return appearances later on in the series.
I also found myself really enjoying how Hanover utilizes post-Katrina New Orleans for its setting and metaphor. Mind you, I've never been to the city, so I have no idea if Hanover bastardized anything or not, but this is the first time I've seen a urban fantasy treat it as something more than just a simple disaster.
I also like how Hanover uses Jayné's extremely conservative, religious upbringing to develop her character, but without resorting to stereotypes. We learn some really interesting things about Jayné's family in this book, and I can't wait to learn more.
One thing that disappointed me, though I'm starting to suspect this relates to a much larger, overall story, is that Jayné's abilities, the protections her uncle placed on her, are not explained. In fact, she seems to have discovered new ones due to the situation she's been placed in (don't worry, this doesn't read like a Mary Sue magically getting NEW POWERS every book: it's just that as she's in different situations, she's learning the extent of what her uncle's given her). I've got some theories at this point, and one of them is that Jayné's actually got a rider in her, but she doesn't know it. We'll see. I'm definitely looking forward to discovering just what happened.
But this book is very enjoyable. I liked how the characters failed and had to try again and failed again and how it seemed like absolutely nothing would work in their favor, and then it did. It's a great ride, and I'm happily awaiting the next release, whenever that might be.
Also, I wonder: is the use of the name Karen Black in any way, shape or form, a nod to Frank Black, the protagonist of the television show Millennium?
My Rating
Worth the Cash: it's not quite as strong as Hanover's debut, but once it kicks into gear and certain twists are revealed, the book definitely lives up to the precedent set by Unclean Spirits. Other readers may figure out the twists long before I did, but I'll admit I was reading at warp-speed and simply let certain details bother me (and trust me, if you don't figure it out, there's going to be quite a lot of things at first that BOTHER you) in hopes that everything would come together in the end. And they do (which means they don't bother me any more). There's lots of fun to be had, revelations to really enjoy, and an excellent use of setting in post-Katrina New Orleans (says she who's never, ever visited the city, so she may be wrong, but she liked it). Overall, I was very pleased. I still enjoy the cast very much, especially with all of their human flaws, and I look forward to seeing what kind of trouble they get into next. Especially given the last line of the book, which I wanted to hit the author for. No, seriously. It's a great ending, but you're going to want to hit Hanover too. :)
Cover Commentary: MUCH BETTER THAN THE FIRST. SO MUCH BETTER! I absolutely LOVE the coloring, but then again, I'm a sucker for turquoise/teal, and the depiction of Jayné is just much better rendered. No, she wouldn't dress like that, but it looks good. I'm also fond of the snake. :)
Next up: Skinned by Robin Wasserman