Lilith Saintcrow, Redemption Alley

Lilith Saintcrow, Redemption Alley

Having just rescued a teen from a Trader, Hunter Jill Kismet knows her vocation allows no vacation. Her Santa Luz police department contact Detective Montaine asks Jill to look into the suicide of a cop; Officer Marvin Kutchner ate his Glock two months ago. The deceased has not returned from the grave so is outside of Kismet's cases. However, Montaine says Kutchner was his partner at one time and he would never take his own life. Kismet notices the popular police candy Tums unopened and the police hydrator whiskey almost filled so decides to help her contact obtain closure by investigating the death so that the bottles remain practically filled.

The simple case turns convoluted and deadly as allies prove false and enemies prove loyal. Cops want her dead and Hellbreed have damning information they offer to her. As she digs deeper and deeper, Jill finds links to disappearances and begins to uncover a hellish conspiracy that places the city in danger unless she can finish peeling back the onion in time with the help of another Hunter and some Were.

The third invigorating Jill Kismet investigative urban fantasy is as vivid and violent as the previous thrillers (see NIGHT SHIFT and HUNTER'S PRAYER) in this action-packed take no prisoners without blood flowing saga. The story line is faster than the speed of light as the heroine jumps feet first into the hellish fire as nothing is what it seems. Filled with great twists, Lilith Saintcrow provides a stunning Kismet entry as the Hunter affirms Schwartz's tenet that Murphy is a god damn optimist.

Harriet Klausner