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Night Call #2
Demon Dei
This is an alternate cover for ISBN 9780992502645
PLEAE NOTE: This book is not an MM story.
A cop, a physicist and… an angel (!?) walk into a bar…
At first it all seems like a bad joke to Matt Hawkins, vampire slayer extraordinaire. After taking down a vampire Primal, he’s prepared for serious backlash from the supernatural community. A mob of vampires seeking vengeance or some other Old World nasty thinking to make a name for themselves by taking Matt out. Yeah, nothing of the sort happens. It seems, against the odds, Matt’s managed to scare the baddies into leaving town.
But things are never that simple and Matt should know better than to think otherwise.
When Matt gets a call from PI Erin McRea’s assistant, asking for his help in a personal matter, he knows he should turn it down. Erin doesn’t like him or his dark world of mythical monsters. Work, however, is scarce and Mercy’s getting lazy. So he throws himself, Mercy and Erin into a murder mystery with a suspect straight out of… Hell?
And somehow, Matt has to find the time to help a guy with his not-properly-dead girlfriend…
PLEAE NOTE: This book is not an MM story.
A cop, a physicist and… an angel (!?) walk into a bar…
At first it all seems like a bad joke to Matt Hawkins, vampire slayer extraordinaire. After taking down a vampire Primal, he’s prepared for serious backlash from the supernatural community. A mob of vampires seeking vengeance or some other Old World nasty thinking to make a name for themselves by taking Matt out. Yeah, nothing of the sort happens. It seems, against the odds, Matt’s managed to scare the baddies into leaving town.
But things are never that simple and Matt should know better than to think otherwise.
When Matt gets a call from PI Erin McRea’s assistant, asking for his help in a personal matter, he knows he should turn it down. Erin doesn’t like him or his dark world of mythical monsters. Work, however, is scarce and Mercy’s getting lazy. So he throws himself, Mercy and Erin into a murder mystery with a suspect straight out of… Hell?
And somehow, Matt has to find the time to help a guy with his not-properly-dead girlfriend…
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First published August 16, 2014
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About the author
L.J. Hayward
21 books620 followersL.J. Hayward has been telling stories for most of her life, a good deal of them of the tall variety. She loves reading but doesn’t seem to have enough time between wanting to be a more disciplined writer, being the actual erratic writer she is, and working for dollars in a dungeon laboratory. She also lives on the Gold Coast in Queensland, but rarely sees a beach and can’t surf, though she thinks living on a houseboat might be fun. At least then she’d have an excuse to get a cat.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 6, 2018
A supernatural murder mystery thriller, laced with assassins, vampires, ghouls, and the most seductively dangerous demons in this dimension or any other.
Matt Hawkins has to expand his repertoire beyond bad-ass monster kicker when he is asked to assist in the investigation of the murder of a talented physicist. Before he knows it, he's embroiled in the power plays of the political machinations of Hell and the immediate target of very powerful adversaries.
Even with the help of PI Erin McRae, and the lethal vampire Mercy, his survival and the future of the world are very much in doubt.
L.J. Hayward excels at finely drawn, nuanced characters, and tightly plotted stories. Always very entertaining. This book kept me up past midnight more than once, and for me (a slow reader), I raced through it.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with a desire to read quality fantasy written by a talented author.
5 stars well earned.
P.S. Love the new covers in this series.
Matt Hawkins has to expand his repertoire beyond bad-ass monster kicker when he is asked to assist in the investigation of the murder of a talented physicist. Before he knows it, he's embroiled in the power plays of the political machinations of Hell and the immediate target of very powerful adversaries.
Even with the help of PI Erin McRae, and the lethal vampire Mercy, his survival and the future of the world are very much in doubt.
L.J. Hayward excels at finely drawn, nuanced characters, and tightly plotted stories. Always very entertaining. This book kept me up past midnight more than once, and for me (a slow reader), I raced through it.
I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with a desire to read quality fantasy written by a talented author.
5 stars well earned.
P.S. Love the new covers in this series.
June 13, 2018
After his massive battle with a primal vampire in Blood Work, the first book in this series, Matt Hawkins, aka The Night Caller, is wondering why everything is so quiet. The vampires all seem to have vanished, apart from his own partially tamed vampire Mercy. Just a few pesky imps around but that's all about to change as something bigger and nastier arrives on the scene. In trying to help PI Erin McRae solve the strange murder of a physicist, Matt finds himself caught up in the middle of a struggle for power by beings from another realm.
This is well written paranormal fiction with excellent character development, some mean and scary beings, fast paced and well plotted with a good sprinkling of humour and inventiveness.
This is well written paranormal fiction with excellent character development, some mean and scary beings, fast paced and well plotted with a good sprinkling of humour and inventiveness.
December 20, 2014
This book follow closely on from the first in the series, and I was not disappointed. I'd looked forward to this since reading the author's first novel 'Blood Work'.
The characters develop nicely, and although the plot is self-contained, I'm glad I read the first book.
I especially like the complexity of the love interest - I wanted them to get together so much, and yet I didn't! I'm not going to say why because I don't want to give anything away.
Amaya, the demon, was a surprise at the end - I thought her growing humanity to be intriguing. The only thing to give me a moments pause was that I thought demons were supposed to be immortal.
I will definitely be reading the next instalment.
The characters develop nicely, and although the plot is self-contained, I'm glad I read the first book.
I especially like the complexity of the love interest - I wanted them to get together so much, and yet I didn't! I'm not going to say why because I don't want to give anything away.
Amaya, the demon, was a surprise at the end - I thought her growing humanity to be intriguing. The only thing to give me a moments pause was that I thought demons were supposed to be immortal.
I will definitely be reading the next instalment.
May 16, 2016
Even better than the first!
Hayward expands her paranormal universe and with it the intrigue and action. These are the beginnings of a must read series!
Hayward expands her paranormal universe and with it the intrigue and action. These are the beginnings of a must read series!
November 6, 2014
What’s a vampire slayer to do when the only vampire in town is the one that lives in your basement? For Matt Hawkins, AKA The Night Caller, no vampires means no work. Unless you count acting as a pest controller for imp infestations, which is hardly the best use of his talents. Having defeated an ancient vampire Primal a few months previously, Matt was hoping to dine out on his new badass reputation. Instead all the bad guys seem to have left the neighbourhood. Is that because they’re all scared of him, or has something else run them off?
Things at least begin to look up when he gets two new cases in the space of a day. One is an investigation into the murder of a scientist who was apparently killed by her husband, despite numerous witnesses who saw him at work at the time of her death. The other involves a marine biologist who saw his girlfriend eaten by sharks, only to turn up at his house later as a ghost. And for a dead woman, she’s got an impressive right hook.
Both cases are way out of Matt’s comfort zone – his approach to solving problems usually involves shooting them with holy-water paintballs, or setting his tame(ish) vampire sidekick Mercy on them – so it’s useful to have the grudging help of private investigator Erin McRea. The last time Erin worked with Matt he almost got her killed, so she’s wary about teaming up with him again. He’s going to need all the help he can get, though, because there’s a demon in town. It’s been summoned to kill Matt. And it will not, cannot, stop until he’s dead.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, “Blood Work”, so it was good to drop in on Matt and co. again. In the first story he was the subject of an investigation, but in this book he’s trying to conduct an investigation himself, with rather mixed results. As before the chapters alternate between Matt’s POV in the first-person and Erin’s (and another character’s) in the third person, and again this allows for an notable contrast between Matt’s opinion of himself and how he’s seen by others. Matt's relationship with Erin is interesting and complicated; Erin's conflict between her interest in Matt and his world and her loyalty to her terminally-ill husband William is well drawn. I found Matt himself a bit more sympathetic in this book as well, though he still had the odd facepalm moment (but then, don't we all?)
The demon itself is a POV character, which prevents it from being a one-dimensional "Terminator" type villain. As in the previous book the action scenes are well written and the wry humour (particularly in Matt's POV chapters) is nicely pitched.
On the critical side I would say that a couple of plot twists (assuming they were intended as such) were a little obvious and Matt was unforgivably dense once or twice. There was the odd typo or error here and there but nothing major. In all, not much to nit-pick, even for a Grandmaster of Pedantry such as myself. I'm looking forward to book three.
Things at least begin to look up when he gets two new cases in the space of a day. One is an investigation into the murder of a scientist who was apparently killed by her husband, despite numerous witnesses who saw him at work at the time of her death. The other involves a marine biologist who saw his girlfriend eaten by sharks, only to turn up at his house later as a ghost. And for a dead woman, she’s got an impressive right hook.
Both cases are way out of Matt’s comfort zone – his approach to solving problems usually involves shooting them with holy-water paintballs, or setting his tame(ish) vampire sidekick Mercy on them – so it’s useful to have the grudging help of private investigator Erin McRea. The last time Erin worked with Matt he almost got her killed, so she’s wary about teaming up with him again. He’s going to need all the help he can get, though, because there’s a demon in town. It’s been summoned to kill Matt. And it will not, cannot, stop until he’s dead.
I enjoyed the first book in this series, “Blood Work”, so it was good to drop in on Matt and co. again. In the first story he was the subject of an investigation, but in this book he’s trying to conduct an investigation himself, with rather mixed results. As before the chapters alternate between Matt’s POV in the first-person and Erin’s (and another character’s) in the third person, and again this allows for an notable contrast between Matt’s opinion of himself and how he’s seen by others. Matt's relationship with Erin is interesting and complicated; Erin's conflict between her interest in Matt and his world and her loyalty to her terminally-ill husband William is well drawn. I found Matt himself a bit more sympathetic in this book as well, though he still had the odd facepalm moment (but then, don't we all?)
The demon itself is a POV character, which prevents it from being a one-dimensional "Terminator" type villain. As in the previous book the action scenes are well written and the wry humour (particularly in Matt's POV chapters) is nicely pitched.
On the critical side I would say that a couple of plot twists (assuming they were intended as such) were a little obvious and Matt was unforgivably dense once or twice. There was the odd typo or error here and there but nothing major. In all, not much to nit-pick, even for a Grandmaster of Pedantry such as myself. I'm looking forward to book three.
September 27, 2014
LJ's Night Call series is spec-fic thriller, not boring same-same paranormal romance. There is some pretty strong romance here in Demon Dei, and the vampire is drop-dead gorgeous, but it's her power against the bad guys that Matt is interested in, not her body. But will he ever manage to tell the woman he is really interested in - or will something ghastly kill her first? Demon Dei is a roller-coaster of intelligent excitement from start to finish.
September 27, 2021
It took me awhile to get around to deciding to read this. I dislike demon and/or god stories. But I appreciated the worldbuilding involved. And the end is satisfying.
I read it because I like the MC and his friends. But this might be the last one I read, if there has to be demons. Really not a fan, even with the better explanation herein. I don't know why this is my line in the sand, but here we are. Sorry, book. You tried.
I read it because I like the MC and his friends. But this might be the last one I read, if there has to be demons. Really not a fan, even with the better explanation herein. I don't know why this is my line in the sand, but here we are. Sorry, book. You tried.
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December 2, 2014Katharine is a judge for the Aurealis Awards. This entry is the personal opinion of Katharine herself, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
To be safe, I won't be recording my thoughts (if I choose to) here until after the AA are over.
January 13, 2017
The copy editing on this second volume featuring the protagonist Matt Hawkins is better than on the first. The writing remains as entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews