MARK OF THE DEMON gets a mixed review from me. On the one hand, the author did a lot of things right - she has personal experience as a detective and crime scene investigator, and it shows in her descriptions of police procedure and professonal camaraderie. Her worldbuilding is well thought out, thus far limited to the existence of demons inhabiting a parallel sphere that can be temporarily summoned to earth detailed.

While the author's research is impeccable, the protagonist, Kara Gillian, never quite gelled for me. We find out a lot about her - her parents died when she was young, sending her into a tailspin and a brush with excessive drug use before she cleaned up her act and became a cop. She's a demon summoner, a loner, and easily scarred; she's had two brief relationships that ended poorly, leaving her with the impression that she should give up on men entirely. She's alternately confident and deeply insecure, professional and irresponsible, eager to be one of the guys and determined not to play their stupid games. I realize that real people are inconsistent, and I give the author credit for creating a complex character here, I still wanted something to grab onto. I never felt like I had anything to connect with because the narrative voice is the glue that ought to bind it all together, and it just wasn't distinct enough here.

I was also a little annoyed drug addicts and homeless people. Kara is convinced that these victims are selected for a reason, not at random, after careful observation. She interviews a guy who spends a lot of time drawing and photographing homeless people, going so far as to set up his office in a shelter. No alarm bells go off in her head. That guy is just one of the potential suspects, but I knew he was a potential suspect several chapters before the homicide detective narrating the story did, and that was really really frustrating.

I also didn't feel the chemistry between Kara and the FBI agent she partners with for the case, Ryan Kristoff. I like paranormals where romance takes a backseat, but it still needs to pack a punch. I still want to find it exciting and thrilling, which is harder to achieve in smaller doses. Here, Kara and Ryan's relationship just felt awkward to me; I wouldn't really notice or care if he were replaced by someone new. I'm not sure if the Demon Lord is really meant to be a legitimate possibility for romance, either; he's sexy, sure, but he's also terrifying.

MARK OF THE DEMON isn't bad. It's pretty good on the whole. It just didn't grab me, and I'm unlikely to pick up the sequel.