Brimstone Kiss

Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator #2

by Carole Nelson Douglas

Delilah and her partner - tall, dark, handsome, and Hispanic ex-FBI guy Ric Montoya - are busy solving a "Romeo and Juliet" double-murder and she's got plenty more to deal vampires, werewolves, and tigers, oh my!

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Fiction, Vampires

348 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 3, 2008

About the author

Carole Nelson Douglas is the author of sixty-four award-winning novels in contemporary and historical mystery/suspense and romance, high and urban fantasy and science fiction genres. She is best known for two popular mystery series, the Irene Adler Sherlockian historical suspense series (she was the first woman to spin-off a series from the Holmes stories) and the multi-award-winning alphabetically titled Midnight Louie contemporary mystery series. From Cat in an Alphabet Soup #1 to Cat in an Alphabet Endgame #28.
Delilah Street, PI (Paranormal Investigator), headlines Carole's noir Urban Fantasy series: Dancing With Werewolves, Brimstone Kiss, Vampire Sunrise, Silver Zombie, and Virtual Virgin. Now Delilah has moved from her paranormal Vegas to Midnight Louie, feline PI's "Slightly surreal" Vegas to solve crimes in the first book of the new Cafe Noir series, Absinthe Without Leave. Next in 2020, Brandi Alexander on the Rocks.

Once Upon a Midnight Noir is out in eBook and trade paperback versions. This author-designed and illustrated collection of three mystery stories with a paranormal twist and a touch of romance features two award-winning stories featuring Midnight Louie, feline PI and Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator in a supernatural-run Las Vegas. A third story completes the last unfinished story fragment of Edgar Allan Poe, as a Midnight Louie Past Life adventure set in 1790 Norland on a isolated island lighthouse. Louie is a soldier of fortune, a la Puss in Boots.

Next out are Midnight Louie's Cat in an Alphabet Endgame in hardcover, trade paperback and eBook Aug. 23, 2016.

All the Irene Adler novels, the first to feature a woman from the Sherlock Holmes Canon as a crime solver, are now available in eBook.

Carole was a college theater and English literature major. She was accepted for grad school in Theater at the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University, and could have worked as an editorial assistant at Vogue magazine (a la The Devil Wears Prada) but wanted a job closer to home. She worked as a newspaper reporter and then editor in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. During her time there, she discovered a long, expensive classified advertisement offering a black cat named Midnight Louey to the "right" home for one dollar and wrote a feature story on the plucky survival artist, putting it into the cat's point of view. The cat found a country home, but its name was revived for her feline PI mystery series many years later. Some of the Midnight Louie series entries include the dedication "For the real and original Midnight Louie. Nine lives were not enough." Midnight Louie has now had 32 novelistic lives and features in several short stories as well.

Hollywood and Broadway director, playwright, screenwriter and novelist Garson Kanin took Carole's first novel to his publisher on the basis of an interview/article she'd done with him five years earlier. "My friend Phil Silvers," he wrote, "would say he'd never won an interview yet, but he had never had the luck of you."

Carole is a "literary chameleon" who's had novels published in many genres, and often mixes such genre elements as mystery and suspense, fantasy and science fiction, romance with mainstream issues, especially the roles of women.

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am not enjoying the author's writing style at all. She seems overly obsessed with turning her main character into a victim, and seems to really think her including imagined rape scenes over and over is titillating or edgy. It's not, it's just disgusting. I was angered by the repetition of what makes Del such an attraction to the "unhuman" predators in the first book, as well as what I consider lazy writing - repetition, inconsistencies, unexplained plot points (not even ones that are meant to be mysteries, some were just dropped), etc. The magic in the world is what made me decide to check out the second book, but I am already regretting it. Going with some of the reviews, it looks like I won't be enjoying the book if I do try to finish it.

Did not finish. If I ever come back to it and finish it, I'll edit my review.

Edit: I went back and finished it and it never got much better if any better at all. The big questions that really should have more information on do not, and in fact, have more questions. I don't like anything in this series enough to continue, and I almost felt that way about the first book. I would have felt the same about that book, if it weren't for the intriguing hints that Del's magic gave off of being something special. Even the magic is not enough to sustain my interest in this series. The second half of the book was like an entirely different book; it was not connected in hardly any way, shape, or form to the first half of the book, and had a different tone to it. The information about the "bad guys" was interesting, and showed promise, but once again not enough to make this a good book. Del jumps to conclusions at the end of the book that just happen to be right. She didn't have enough evidence to make those conclusions, and everyone who came to the rescue probably wouldn't have done so. It just feels like a case of the author says it happened this way, is too lazy to figure out a better way to develop reasons to explain why they happened, and so they just do.

[Julie (jjmachshev) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm stunned and almost wordless. "Brimstone Kiss", Carole Nelson Douglas' 2nd book about Delilah Street is just as good as the first one and only leaves me begging for more.

Delilah is an orphan. She's also got the appearance and coloring that make her vampire bait in the new millenium where all the fairy tale creatures came out of the closet. She recently came to Vegas on the trail of her double; a woman who could be her twin who appeared in a dissection scene on CSI V. In the first book she hooked up with Ric Montoya, a delicious Latino, former FBI agent who earned the nickname the Cadaver Kid for his ability to find dead bodies. What he never publicized was that his ability was actually the talent to call up zombies. The first book ended with Delilah escaping from a power and money hungry werewolf with Ric's help. In this newest book, Delilah is becoming a 'person of interest' to even more of the supes in Vegas. And she's learning alot more than she ever wanted to know about the struggle for power among the varied supernatural groups. When her investigation into an old murder ruffles feathers (or fur), she finds herself neck deep in danger.

If this series sounds interesting, you really need to read the first book "Dancing With Werewolves" before you tackle this one. There's just too much information you'd be missing. Carole Nelson Douglas has penned an intoxicating mixture of fantasy, suspense, mystery, romance, and the paranormal. I want more.

[Deena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh. My. Word.

What a terrible book! I'm almost ashamed that I read the entire thing, but I guess my inner eternal optimist kept hoping for some redeeming quality.

I didn't find it.

This is even worse than the first one. Sloppy writing, often contradictory from sentence to sentence, and aboslutely NO world building (since presumably that would mean the author had to stick to her own rules, which she clearly can't do). Ridiculous plot elements, even for para-normal stories, with so little explanation that suspension of disbelief is simply impossible.

I will defintely not continue with the series. I'm sorry I spent the penny to buy this one used.

[Indilee · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book in a dollar store and while I usually will finish even terrible books to the end, I couldn't with this one. The main character/first person point of view was so disjointed and all over the place I didn't care at all about her, not to mention that about forty pages in there's a rape scene/dream that doesn't make any sense, that then bled into her having sex and enjoying it with the apparent boyfriend material from the first book? I've read bad books before and usually will try to finish them just to see if there's anything else, but I'm not enjoying it, so I didn't finish it. I may try again at a later date, but as of right now, I wouldn't bother with it.

[Lori Whitwam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, really hate when I'm left "holding the bag" at the end of even a very good book. Yes, leave me with a reason to anticipate the next book, but do we have to be obvious about it?

Love the chemistry between Del and Ric. Love the paranormal elements. Love the intricate plot and the number of agendas.

[Kathy Davie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second in the Delilah Street, Paranormal Investigator urban fantasy series about a reporter-turned-investigator based in Las Vegas.

My Take
Douglas has got some imagination. She's also something of a drama queen. Clever idea (and evidence) to consider that the pharaohs/mummies were vampires.

I gotta confess, I wouldn't stick around for a potential client who has his messenger drop me off on an abandoned rooftop with the only way in via ductwork, ladders, and through grilles.

Odd Comments:
Hmm, not so much a loose thread as a loose connection. Why is Douglas having Caressa Teagarden tell Delilah about La Gargouille and then having Snow raise him?

Ric and Delilah have an interesting sex life. A vertical sex life with a bit of bondage and exhibitionism.

I'm torn between fascination with how Douglas incorporates classic movie references and actors (the CinSim Boys) into her story and how contrived it is.

I am so not understanding the significance of the Lip Venom that Rick passes on from Ugarte.

I guess Douglas is saving up the Imiut fetishes for the next installment.

It's official. Delilah is irritating me. She's asking Snow for this major favor---call up all his forces to invade the Karnak. Yeah, it's major. She knows she'll have to say "yes" to the Brimstone Kiss he's been angling for if she wants to save Ric. And she really wants to save Ric. God knows, she's going on and on about it enough as she whines over how much she loves him and she just has to save him from the pharaonic twins. But with all the pre-kiss bitching, I actually found myself hoping that Snow would refuse to kiss her. At the least, will somebody please let me smack her!

The Story
It's just too weird when Bela Lugosi as Dracula enters Delilah's bedroom at the Enchanted Cottage. Seems he's the emissary for a potential new client. Then there's the confirmation on the skeleton lovers Ric and Delilah found in Sunset Park (see Dancing with Werewolves ). It seems Sansouci has some relevant info as well. Caressa Teagarden has also popped back into Delilah's life---with some surprising news.

Lucky? Delilah ends up with a number of clients for the same job---identifying the skeleton couple: Hector Nightwine wants it for his show; Howard Hughes also wants their identity; who knows why Snow wants to know except that knowledge is power; and, the CinSim Boys who escape their restraints to keep Delilah informed. --The Boys like her style...

Of course, nothing is ever easy although Hector's DVD of Haskell's harassment comes in handy at the police station. Then there are the new shapeshifters in town who attack Delilah, fighting them off with the help of Sansouci and Quicksilver who pops up out of nowhere. Except that Delilah's insatiable curiosity ends up with an involuntary meeting with Kepherati and Kephron---they think it was her talent that night out in the desert and they have their own prospect in mind for resurrection night. And that shape-changing jewelry…? Oh yeah, the Egyptian twins want that, too.

The mirror reveals Cicereau's daughter who drops her boyfriend's name, Krzysztof, a Polish prince, as well as useful details about their deaths. Details Delilah uses in her rendezvous with Sanscouci who reveals her name and the details about the Blood Price which leads to yet another danger for our Delilah as to her suitability---just-right blood type and just-right genes.

But now the Double-Ks have Ric and Delilah ain't laying down for that one! She rallies the troops by giving Snow what he's been wanting from her with a little outside, unexpected help.
The Characters
Delilah Street has retained her reporter instincts along with her passion for vintage clothing and classic movies even as she embraces her paranormal detecting skills. She's also got a special piece of jewelry from Snow. Intrusive, yet protective. Dolly is her '56 black Cadillac with a red leather interior and a white ragtop. Quicksilver is part wolfhound, part wolf and newly adopted from the Las Vegas ASPCA. He likes to prowl Vegas and is very protective of Delilah. Irma is her subconscious girlfriend.

Ric Montoya, a.k.a., the Cadaver Kid, is a former FBI agent with a Gift. A gift for dowsing for the dead. He seems to have a bit of a kink for keeping his clothes...on.

Hector Nightwine is the producer of CSI and a seriously odd man. He has hired Delilah to find out who the skeletons are for an episode on his show. He also wants to figure out a way to make Delilah's resemblance to "Maggie" pay. Lilith Quince signed up to play an autopsied victim for Hector's production CSI and looks exactly like Delilah---the maggot that took up residence in his nose turned Lilith, a.k.a., Maggie, into an international sex symbol. Nightwine has a Cin Sim butler, Godfrey who helps Delilah sneak past Hector's security.

CinSims, Cinema Simulacrums, are a result of a merging of zombies with classic film stars brought back to "life" to serve whoever purchases or leases their bodies. Perry Mason is Delilah's defense attorney. Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes and Ricardo Montalbán's Latin lover persona have joined up with Claud Rains as the Invisible Man to help Delilah. They like her chutzpah. Peter Lorre as Dr. Ugarte seems conflicted about his service to Kepherati (she) and Kephron (he) when he sends a cryptic warning to the Invisible Man. Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine is passing on a message and a lost object.

Detective Haskell is one of the old-school, obnoxious, and prejudiced policemen with a corrupt outlook and a hardon for hurtin' Delilah. Captain Kennedy Malloy is a friend of Ric's. Grady "Grisly" Bahr is the coroner for Las Vegas; Ric's jealous 'cause Bahr has already put Delilah on the 'A' list.

Howard Hughes is the oldest vampire still in Las Vegas, still a perv, and now one of Delilah's clients. Snow, a.k.a., Christophe, a.k.a., Cocaine, is one of the Seven Deadly Sins' band members as well as the owner of the Inferno with an interest in Delilah. And a client. Grizelle is his shapeshifter (white tiger) bodyguard. Nick Charles and the Invisible Man are CinSims at the Inferno who help Delilah with her investigations, break-ins, and escapes.

Cesar Cicero is the werewolf mob boss who simply wants Delilah dead, partly due to her knowing the identity of one of the skeletons she and Ric found, partly because she cost him a lot of "men" when he tried to kill her on a hunt. Sansouci is his hit man and seems to have a sympathy for Delilah. Madrigal, his pet magician, and his two assistants Sylphia and Phasia have just had another 50 years slapped on their performance "sentence" at the Gehenna.

Caressa Teagarden, a.k.a., Lilah Lockhart, was part of a child vaudeville act. She became a star in the early part of the twentieth century and was supposed to be interviewed in Kansas by Delilah until she disappeared.

The Cover and Title
The cover is Vegas, baby, with a miniskirted Delilah wearing a V-neck, sleeveless top, dangling handcuffs from one hand as a white tiger charges at her side against a sky view of a lit-up Vegas Strip and flames are flaring in the upper left against a collage of Vegas signs.

The title is all about Snow and the Brimstone Kiss he bestows on his selected groupies as well as the new drink that Delilah invents.

[Jeffery Swindell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found the story enjoyable and am waiting to see what happens next. The author's style is more for just an enjoyable read than a dramatic supernatural encounter such as King or Rice. do I do not try to compare the two. Just a very enjoyable saga.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit conflicted about this one. Bits of it are great, with a different take on the supernatural. Others fall into way too many "paranormal romance" tropes.

[Dorri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brimstone Kiss is purely emotionally driven. It also manages to ask more questions than it answers.

The regular casts of characters is back: Snow with his Brimstone Kiss and rabid groupies. Ric, aka the Cadavar Kid, with his shocking scars and the reveil of his illict past. Quicksilver, with his knowing looks and sharper fangs. The CineSims and CineSymbs with their underground networks and brewing civil war. Lilith, still stuck in the world of shadows but given a new twist in Del's life. There are a few add ons to the world of questions with the scary vampire twins, the dead werewolf's daughter, along with a few of the more odd Cine-charactors who try to show up to help save the day, the invisible man makes a notable appearance and Snow's second shows a bit of fang.

What makes this book oddly unique is that the story line is very loose. You're not sure what's going on until the last minute and even then you aren't realy sure. The last few pages breeze by and your slapped in the face with the end. It leaves you tangle up and craving more. You might even find yourself wanting to toss the book in frustration. I can't wait for the next book.

[Starling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm giving this book 4 stars because I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and I'd suggest the series to other readers of urban fantasy.

I had a hard time starting this book. The author thought it was necessary to do a prologue that basically gave the reader the basics for what is a very unusual urban fantasy universe. She might have been right, maybe we did need it, but it did slow down getting into the story.

The main character is an interesting woman surrounded by very unusual characters who are also not your usual supernatural creatures. There are several flavors of vampire and both werewolves and other shapeshifters, but there are also some creatures that I've never seen or heard of anywhere else.

The choice of Las Vegas, and its strange hotels, as the place where the action takes place is also pretty unique.

[Jill Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a fan. I hated the classic movie references and the constant talk about vintage clothing/cars/people/movies/times. I don't want a historical fiction, if i did I would read that. The idea of the CinSims, the characters that are pulled off of old movies and made into life, is interesting, I just think she talks about it way too much. Now for my biggest pet peeve for this series. I have no idea how this character is remotely successful. She has major ADD, she doesn't go "Oh, here's a lead, let's follow it until the end!" She goes "Oh here's a lead, let's go follow this one instead." I'm sure the author is trying to make it interesting, but she really just makes delilah seem like an idiot. Also the fact that she's named her inner voice, Irma, is really disturbing to me. This had major potential as a story, just wasn't executed well. too bad.

[Cord · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have and am enjoying Miss Douglas's books very much. I know that she has written quite a lot of books but these are the first that I have read and I am enjoying them a lot. The Delilah Street books could easily get lost in the new influx of the "paranormal investigator", "vampire hunter" and other supernatural stories that are out there, but what is doing it for me is all the movie and television referances that Carole has used. And if you are a fan of old movies, like I am, you will enjoy these books a lot.

One of my favorite lines in the book "Inside, Wrathbone's was as dark as the Devil's left nostril." Gee that must be dark indeed. :)

[Karen]

I really tried to ignore the bad reviews this book was given by other readers, but... I finished it even after hitting the most blatantly lazy writing ever! Either Carole forgot she used the passage before or she was just lazy, but a paragraph on page 56 and one on page 43 are almost verbatim! The dialog between Ric and Delilah is identical. As my daughter would say, "wtf?"

But I like the mythology Ms. Douglas is developing and want to see where she goes with it. I just hope she will write more carefully in the next installment - or hire a better proofreader! Do they think even casual readers would put it down as a case of deja vu?

[Rosalind M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have been a great read but for one problem--it was very, very repetitive. Not only did I find an entire paragraph repeated several pages after its first appearance (hopefully an editorial mistake), but the details of the characters' backgrounds were restated over and over and over again. It also felt like the author was trying to write in a style that was unfamiliar to her natural writing habits. I love Carole Nelson Douglas's work, but this one is not one I'll reread. I'll finish the series, though, because there are some interesting plot twists at work here.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still felt a bit mystified at the end of this book, plenty of mystery and I really hope the next book brings a few more gasps rather than groans.

This book continues immediatley from Dancing with Werewolves, not even a warmer chapter to remind you a bit about the other book, it was lucky that it was only a week or two ago that I finished it.

I will continue to read this series if the next one picks up a bit, still a great read just felt a bit set up for a longer series.

[Sally · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was such a disappointment after the first in this series, which entranced me.
Continuing the story of Del and Ric and the strange inhabitants of Las Vegas since the Revolution in 2013, CND is wordy, and in a word, boring. I still like the main characters, and i will read the next book when it comes out, because the premise is still fun and fascinating, I just hope the author recovers her mojo and her spark in the next book, because it's sadly lacking in this one.

[Cindi · Rating 1 out of 5]

I stopped reading the Midnight Louie mystery series because I got so sick of the author's language style; but I obviously forgot that when I checked this second Delilah Street book out. I managed to read and OK the first novel but couldn't get into this one at all. After about 10 pages of her fluffy, supposedly comic style, I quit and will mark this accordingly.

[Ashley Kannenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

second book in delilah steet series all the questions have not been answered so i can't wait to read the next one but some have been answered especially some that were really bugging me so i was glad to learn the truth but we were then left with a new mystery that i can't wait to see what happens with

[Lindig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but nothing ever gets resolved. This is pretty much a continuation of #1, plot point by plot point. Tiny dribblets of info are parceled out that expand our knowledge of what's happening, but at the end, frustration still reigns. It's all very convoluted. It's also well written and interesting and witty. But annoying in the end.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed Brimstone Kiss and Vampire Sunrise, but CN Douglas lost me with the next book in the series, Silver Zombie. I guess I got tired of all the references to the 40's and 50's. There seemed to be a disconnect between the old references and the new, fantasy setting.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same maddening things toned down only a notch. More of the Sims, Hollywood glam and vintage that I like, including more Perry Mason! Not enough of the dog. Fuller review to come when I'm better rested.

[Jacquelyn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the main character, her adventures are all over the place, until she finally gets the big idea or the bad guy.

This might be a good read for some people, but I had a hard time getting into it.(:

[Kelida · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series. I think the author's world is very interesting and I love the writers spin of the different myths. The only issues I had is that it could get a bit confusing in certain areas. But overall I really li..ove this series. :)

[Wolf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay so it's rare for me to give less than 3 stars and the only reason I did was because of how the story changed. I really wasn't pleased with how this turned out and I probably won't bother with the next book. But it's a review. Someone else may like it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The mysteries multiply in this installment. Is Lilith dead or alive? Is she Delilah's twin? Where is she? What is Rich's backstory? What is Snow?

We learn some, but not enough. I hope we get more in the next installment.

[Kim · Rating 1 out of 5]

could not finish it, don't want to try

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty hot.

[Helen Fleischer · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 Delilah Street, left me hungry for #3

[Sandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. As with Dancing With Werewolves the writing style of lots of questions and not many answers keeps it from being a 3 stars for me.

[Roxanne Rhoads · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series will suck you in.

Old Hollywoood in new Las Vegas- filled with all kinds of creepy, crazy paranormals.

Love it.

I highly recommend this series.