BLOG TOUR: The Daemoniac


Today I am taking part in the Xpresso Blog Tour for The Daemoniac by Kat Ross. It is also it's book birthday making it doubly special! Happy Birthday Daemoniac, I hope you enjoy the review!!

THE DAEMONIAC
by Kat Ross


Pages: 334 paperback
Publisher: Acorn
Publication Date: October 12th 2016
ISBN: 0997236248
Received From:  Xpresso Book Tours

Summary 

It's August of 1888, just three weeks before Jack the Ripper will begin his grisly spree in the London slum of Whitechapel, and another serial murderer is stalking the gas-lit streets of New York. With taunting messages in backwards Latin left at the crime scenes and even more inexplicable clues like the fingerprints that appear to have been burned into one victim's throat, his handiwork bears all the hallmarks of a demonic possession.
But consulting detective Harrison Fearing Pell is convinced her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. Encouraged by her uncle, Arthur Conan Doyle, Harry hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.
From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry and her best friend, John Weston, follow the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York's richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead them closer to home than they ever imagined?

Review

The Daemoniac was not what I was expecting but that isn't a bad thing. I was hopeful but worried it would fall a little flat of what it was offering. I was wrong. It is an interesting and compelling read that will have you asking questions from start to end.

The story follow Harry Pell as she decides to take on a mysterious case as a private detective. However, her clients believe they are hiring the well known Myrtle Pell, a renown investigator of the unexplainable cases. Although when Mr. Brady and his wife turn up at her door looking for her sister Harry decides its her turn to shine and takes the case on herself. The book follows Harry and her best friend John as they investigate the unusually timed disappearance of Mr. Brady's childhood friend... but the case turns out to be much darker and more complicated than Harry could have imagined. As the body count rises will she and her friends be able to discover what is really going on or will she have to admit defeat and call on her big sister for help? Well you'll just have to read it to find out!

The Daemoniac is one of those books where you don't know if it is supernatural or simply a psychopath on a rampage. Everything points to it being a tale of demons and black magic but logically minded Harry refuses to admit that it is more than human. You don't find out until the end if she is right or not and it is one of those stories where it could be open to interpretation. Which I personally love! I like the fact it isn't black and white as it keeps you on your toes and leaves it open for a second book... which is happening by the way!


Our protagonist is Harrison, also known as Harry and I have to admit I really liked her! She's smart and brave and at times reckless, which in YA terms always leads to an interesting adventure. She's determined to be more than Myrtle's little sister and that leads to her doing everything she can to carve out a name for herself with this case. She gets more than she bargained for but that doesn't mean it's beyond her. Harry will fight to prove she has worth of her own and throughout the course of the book you can't help but back her.

This was a book of two halves for me. The first half was okay but it was a slow starter which made it difficult to get into at the beginning. However, the second half of the book put me through the ringer! It is one of those stories where you can't see where its going to end up and leaves you with a thousand and one questions while you're reading it. Is it supernatural? It is not? Is it demonic or is it simply a psychopath? I didn't know what was coming next and the ending was a surprising one, but I am so glad I stuck with it because it turned out to be a good read. I still have one line in particular on repeat in my head sending shivers down my spine even now...

"Billy was... delicious"






Author Bio
Kat Ross worked as a journalist at the United Nations for ten years before happily falling back into what she likes best: making stuff up. She lives in Westchester with her kid and a few sleepy cats. Kat is also the author of the dystopian thriller Some Fine Day (Skyscape, 2014), about a world where the sea levels have risen sixty meters. She loves magic, monsters and doomsday scenarios. Preferably with mutants.




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