Imperial Purple

Lilith Saintcrow
Night Shift
Orbit. 2008

Earlier this year I reviewed Saintcrow’s Working for the Devil. For me, Night Shift is a slightly better book although there are aspects which are not to my personal taste.

It is the story of Jill Kismet, the resident demon hunter in the city of Santa something-or-other. I know the name was mentioned in the text somewhere but I can’t find it again. Not that it matters. Jill deals with (in her own words) nonstandard exorcisms, Traders, hellbreed, rogue Weres, scurf (don’t ask), Sorrows, Middle Way adepts and anything else the nightside can throw up.

Like Dante Valentine in Working for the Devil she is very competent at fighting and she kills lots and lots of things in the course of the book. Fortunately they are all evil so that’s all right. And she’s very fond of children.

I’m falling into sarcasm again which is unfair because the book doesn’t pretend to be anything other than what it is - a jolly "kick-arse" (or "kick-ass" if you prefer) story of a girl who kills demons and saves the city. The old town-tamer story that drove a thousand westerns and none the worse for that.

Jill has made a bargain with a powerful demon named Pericles. He has given her demon-like powers but in return she has to give him a couple of hours of her time per month. The sessions are bad but could be much worse and the demon is continually playing mind games with her. She finds this even worse than the monthly sessions. This aspect of the book is good and raises it above Working for the Devil.

For the rest it is non-stop action as Jill fights off a succession of nasties while trying to find the truth behind the rogue Were and the demon lady who are terrorising the city. On her side are some good monsters (were-thingies - mostly feline), a white magician who keeps her house as a Sanctuary, and a supporting cast of police and forensics who are there mainly to make sure the bodies are dealt with in a tidy and timely manner. The aforementioned Pericles may or may not be on her side - he is rather ambiguous.

If this sort of story appeals to you it’s not a bad example of the genre. I don’t much care for the genre myself which may mean it is better than I give it credit for. I don’t think fans will be disappointed. Three stars.