Jenna Black, Devil Inside

Devil Inside

Jenna Black

Dell, Dec 2007, $6.99

ISBN 9780553590449

In Topeka on a job, kick demon butt professional exorcist Morgan Kingsley is embarrassed to find Lugh heir to the demon kingdom residing inside her. She wants to get rid of him, but has no earthly idea how to do it safely as the two options are between death and lobotomy.

Lugh is also unsure how he entered his hostess, but knows she has a strong human aura that keeps him somewhat under control. He only communicates with her when she is sleeping. However, after Morgan's denial and fooling her expert peers re possession, Lugh through her dreams persuades Morgan they need to work together. He explains they must learn how his opponents transplanted him inside of her without either aware of it happening and how to get him out without harming her; although in his mind if he escapes her, she is expendable. As his demonic adversaries want him dead due to his radical position on human possession, the easy way to accomplish this is killing Morgan.

This is a fabulous urban fantasy in which the Black world filled with demons, possessions, laws, and special prisons make for an exhilarating thriller. Morgan will entertain the troops although somewhat a comic book heroine similar to Lara Croft; she is especially at her best when she rages at the humiliation of an exorcist being possessed. Fans of an offbeat but wildly enjoyable tale starring a take no prisoners heroine will want to read the DEVIL INSIDE, as the title is literally apropos.

Harriet Klausner