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Last of the Gargoyles #1
The Chained
Gwen used to be the most feared of the Twelve Generals of Lucifer—demons who have roamed the Earth since being sent down from heaven at the dawn of time, bringing chaos and destruction to everything around them. Their open the gates of hell and destroy Earth once and for all.However, Gwen is starting to have a conscience.Gwen used to be the most feared of the Twelve Generals of Lucifer—demons who have roamed the Earth since being sent down from heaven at the dawn of time, bringing chaos and destruction to everything around them. Their open the gates of hell and destroy Earth once and for all.However, Gwen is starting to have a conscience.Unlike the other demons, she’s begun to feel compassion for humans and disdain for the slaughter her kind has brought to the world. She runs off in search for the Gargoyles, beings that were sent down from Heaven to stop the Twelve. Now she has to face the fact she has done things that she can never repent for, and stay one step ahead of a very angry ex who will stop at nothing to hunt her down.
415 pages, Paperback
Published September 28, 2018
16 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Dani Hoots
72 books418 followersDani Hoots is a science fiction, fantasy, romance, and young adult author who loves anything with a story. She has a B.S. in Anthropology, a Masters of Urban and Environmental Planning, a Certificate in Novel Writing from Arizona State University, and a BS in Herbal Science from Bastyr University.
Currently she is working on a YA urban fantasy series called Daughter of Hades, a YA urban fantasy series called The Wonderland Chronicles, a historic fantasy vampire series called A World of Vampires, and a YA sci-fi series called Sanshlian Series. She has also started up an indie publishing company called FoxTales Press. She also works with Anthill Studios in creating comics through Antik Comics.
Her hobbies include reading, watching anime, cooking, studying different languages, wire walking, hula hoop, and working with plants. She is also an herbalist and sells her concoctions on FoxCraft Apothecary. She lives in Phoenix with her husband and visits Seattle often.
Feel free to email her with any questions you might have!
danihootsauthor (at) gmail (dot) com
Check out her websites and follow her on social media:
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
August 6, 2018
I so enjoyed the book. That evil can have a concious. Will read more from the author.
April 26, 2020
I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This did take me a little bit to get through. The pacing was off and I found myself having to reread parts of it to make sure I was not missing something. The part that I did enjoy is seeing that evil can have a conscious and can try to redeem themselves. Seeing this from both sides was interesting.
June 23, 2020
This book is a very smooth read, in the way that you can pick it up and get into the "immersed mode" that can take a a while in other cases. This is in large part due to the fact that Gwen is an interesting and well-written lead character. Gargoyles aren't written about as often as other entities from lore , so if you are unsure whether or not to give this a chance based on the title and need a comparison to something more familiar I'd loosely place it in the realm of stories like the movie version of Constantine. Like it, heavenly/hellish beings roam the world of humanity and while they are enhanced compared to humans they can still be affected by forces that would affect humans. Is taking bullets in the back and almost rolling end-over-end on a motorcycle going to kill a demon? Nope, but it's going to hurt a hell of a lot. I definitely recommend picking this book up!
December 1, 2018
I recieved an ARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Please don't hate me for this....it hurts my soul to give such a poor review, but I couldn't stand it!
Thoughts and...editing suggestions for chapter 1
DNF'ed page 13.
I hate to be the person who drags a new book down, but I just can’t find the will power to slug my way through this one. Pretty sure it’s the writing style. It’s very…different from what I’m used to...and there's the fact that it needs a REALLY good edit. So the following is mostly an editing fiesta.
There is a lot of repetitiveness to this book and I only got a chapter in.
These two lines that were within 4 pages of each other:
Heavenly wings ripped out of her back x2 word for word
Chained down to this earth or chain pulling her down to earth need some new descriptors
There is also a thing about cologne. His musky cologne with no sweetness to it. She could smell his cologne. Cologne cologne cologne. We got it. He wears an old german musky cologne and somehow you can smell in in the air though he’s not close to you yet (was not explained in chapter 1).
Some things are really specific. There are two motorcycles in the first chapter. No real descriptions for us non-bike loving people. Just model and colour. So one is a 1940’s something and the other is a Suzuki GSX S1000F ABS (I wrote that one down). If that’s anything like snowmobiles, what I personally took away from that is that it’s got some power. But a 1940 something bike can keep ahead of it in a high speed chase through the city… Other specific things are ringtone songs. Eric Clapton’s Before You Accuse Me, for example. Or guns, a .45 with a standard 8 bullet magazine (one in the chamber?).
Most other things are more general, or glossed over altogether. What is she wearing...shirt and a jacket...okay. They speed in front of an oncoming train. He revs the engine for the upth-teen time, she screams and the result “They had made it.” Okay than…good suspense?
And the blood thing. Gwen ditches her jacket and shirt because the demons would be able to track her blood from anywhere cause the smell is that strong. BUT does she keep her bra? Is she even wearing a bra? All is says is she trashes her shirt and jacket (what colour were they anyway?). Did she magically heal??? Did the bullets pop out? Did she wipe the blood off her skin if it’s so easy to smell? Nope! Just throws on the guy’s undershirt and off they go!
Got one page into chapter two and decided it probably wasn’t going to get much better so I stopped. Which is unfortunate because the plot line actually looks interesting enough, but as I said, I don’t think this writing style and I are compatible and I have a dozen other books I have 3 weeks to slam through. Life’s too short to be reading things you feel compelled to edit the crap out of.
More things in need of editing:
making Erik almost flipping the bike over Uh, what? (had to read it twice) oh, you meant “flip.” Gotcha!
Gwen glanced behind her…I could tell they were all Jurgen’s minions there was no “I" until this moment.
this time she felt it was more about surviving another day. You just said Jurgen wouldn’t kill her…she’s extremely hard to kill anyway, I’ve gathered…what is with this thought she’s having?
Conclusion
Interesting plot line from what I read, poor execution mostly due to the need for another round of editing.
So sorry...don't hate me!
Please don't hate me for this....it hurts my soul to give such a poor review, but I couldn't stand it!
Thoughts and...editing suggestions for chapter 1
DNF'ed page 13.
I hate to be the person who drags a new book down, but I just can’t find the will power to slug my way through this one. Pretty sure it’s the writing style. It’s very…different from what I’m used to...and there's the fact that it needs a REALLY good edit. So the following is mostly an editing fiesta.
There is a lot of repetitiveness to this book and I only got a chapter in.
These two lines that were within 4 pages of each other:
Heavenly wings ripped out of her back x2 word for word
Chained down to this earth or chain pulling her down to earth need some new descriptors
There is also a thing about cologne. His musky cologne with no sweetness to it. She could smell his cologne. Cologne cologne cologne. We got it. He wears an old german musky cologne and somehow you can smell in in the air though he’s not close to you yet (was not explained in chapter 1).
Some things are really specific. There are two motorcycles in the first chapter. No real descriptions for us non-bike loving people. Just model and colour. So one is a 1940’s something and the other is a Suzuki GSX S1000F ABS (I wrote that one down). If that’s anything like snowmobiles, what I personally took away from that is that it’s got some power. But a 1940 something bike can keep ahead of it in a high speed chase through the city… Other specific things are ringtone songs. Eric Clapton’s Before You Accuse Me, for example. Or guns, a .45 with a standard 8 bullet magazine (one in the chamber?).
Most other things are more general, or glossed over altogether. What is she wearing...shirt and a jacket...okay. They speed in front of an oncoming train. He revs the engine for the upth-teen time, she screams and the result “They had made it.” Okay than…good suspense?
And the blood thing. Gwen ditches her jacket and shirt because the demons would be able to track her blood from anywhere cause the smell is that strong. BUT does she keep her bra? Is she even wearing a bra? All is says is she trashes her shirt and jacket (what colour were they anyway?). Did she magically heal??? Did the bullets pop out? Did she wipe the blood off her skin if it’s so easy to smell? Nope! Just throws on the guy’s undershirt and off they go!
Got one page into chapter two and decided it probably wasn’t going to get much better so I stopped. Which is unfortunate because the plot line actually looks interesting enough, but as I said, I don’t think this writing style and I are compatible and I have a dozen other books I have 3 weeks to slam through. Life’s too short to be reading things you feel compelled to edit the crap out of.
More things in need of editing:
making Erik almost flipping the bike over Uh, what? (had to read it twice) oh, you meant “flip.” Gotcha!
Gwen glanced behind her…I could tell they were all Jurgen’s minions there was no “I" until this moment.
this time she felt it was more about surviving another day. You just said Jurgen wouldn’t kill her…she’s extremely hard to kill anyway, I’ve gathered…what is with this thought she’s having?
Conclusion
Interesting plot line from what I read, poor execution mostly due to the need for another round of editing.
So sorry...don't hate me!
November 17, 2025
What I Did Like:
+The characters here are all wonderful. I loved their connections to each other, their relationship dynamics, and their clear sense that their side is right.
+Gwen is a solid character. She’s a demon, but what if she doesn’t want to follow her path? What if she has doubts about what is right? She’s relatable in that struggle and her story is compulsively readable.
+The big battle is well written. It had to be since we spent the entire book ready for it and it delivered in a big way. Graphic, heartbreaking, and descriptive, this fight will hold your attention.
Who Should Read This One:
-Fans of good vs evil will appreciate this team and their story.
My Rating: 4 Stars
For Full Review: https://alltherightreads.com/2025/11/...
+The characters here are all wonderful. I loved their connections to each other, their relationship dynamics, and their clear sense that their side is right.
+Gwen is a solid character. She’s a demon, but what if she doesn’t want to follow her path? What if she has doubts about what is right? She’s relatable in that struggle and her story is compulsively readable.
+The big battle is well written. It had to be since we spent the entire book ready for it and it delivered in a big way. Graphic, heartbreaking, and descriptive, this fight will hold your attention.
Who Should Read This One:
-Fans of good vs evil will appreciate this team and their story.
My Rating: 4 Stars
For Full Review: https://alltherightreads.com/2025/11/...
September 19, 2019
Thank you Netgalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
It took me almost a year to finish this book, sadly. I had a hard time reading this and just focus on it. There were lots of repetitive words and the whole world just didn't interest me. It felt blank. I did not care about the characters AT ALL. I no longer know their names. Sorry. If someone would ask me about some details. I wouldn't know. It was that forgettable to me.
It took me almost a year to finish this book, sadly. I had a hard time reading this and just focus on it. There were lots of repetitive words and the whole world just didn't interest me. It felt blank. I did not care about the characters AT ALL. I no longer know their names. Sorry. If someone would ask me about some details. I wouldn't know. It was that forgettable to me.
August 29, 2024
As always, Dani Hoots delivered a fast paced story, this time slightly religious with a war between good & evil, heaven & hell. Our main character is a demon who develops a conscience & decides she wants to change.
April 6, 2025
This was fine. An entertaining enough read that I didn't DNF it but nothing that really grabbed my attention. I had trouble connecting with the characters, which made their struggles and suffering not as compelling. I will probably finish the series, but its not something I need to re-read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews