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Demon Games
Beaten, Broken, and Demoted; Ty Burdin failed as a hunter.
New Babysit the Agency’s newest recruit, Hartnet, while navigating the changing landscape of Agency politics. With the blood of a good man still burning his hands, Ty is determined to protect his brother…even if he as to smother him to do it.
Too bad Ty caught the attention of an ancient demon determined to wreck his life, one game at a time. She proves to be more powerful and cunning than any demon Ty has faced before. Can Ty find a way to stop her as she forces him to participate in a series of escalating challenges? Or will he just be a loser in this round of Demon Games?
Includes bonus Demon Hunter Academy chapter 1, a Burdin-verse novel.
New Babysit the Agency’s newest recruit, Hartnet, while navigating the changing landscape of Agency politics. With the blood of a good man still burning his hands, Ty is determined to protect his brother…even if he as to smother him to do it.
Too bad Ty caught the attention of an ancient demon determined to wreck his life, one game at a time. She proves to be more powerful and cunning than any demon Ty has faced before. Can Ty find a way to stop her as she forces him to participate in a series of escalating challenges? Or will he just be a loser in this round of Demon Games?
Includes bonus Demon Hunter Academy chapter 1, a Burdin-verse novel.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 12, 2022
4 people are currently reading
4 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Nader
29 books108 followersWrites novels about the dark things floating around in his head because the demons won’t let him sleep otherwise. Jokes are his weapon of choice, but will resort to deflection in times of emergency. Did you know Maine is closer to Africa than any other state?
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 29, 2022
“A good teacher is an honest teacher. A wise man said that.”
“Which one?”
“Me, just now. Did you really think I was smart enough to quote someone else?”
“No, not really.”
This was a great, great story! The 'games' in question wound up being nothing like I expected and there was no way in Knoxville that I saw that ending coming! Sure, it was kind of a bummer that the execution dipped again but still, this particular BoB chapter was just so exciting and tense! Well, if you don't count all the barfing. Cussing? No problem. Sex? Don't mind if I do! Drugs, alcohol, rock-n-roll? Sign me up now! But describe the before, during and after bits of someone hurling WAY too much to be healthy and I remember that I'm probably way too engaged in the story for my own good. And that I definitely need to stop reading at breakfast. Hurrpp.
Deep, calming breaths. Peaceful oceans. Oceans of blood. Clementine's blood. No. Shit. Peaceful oceans. A breeze gently blows through a field of grass. A field with a little girl on a swing. Goddammit.
Having said that, overall, my impression of this book was that it was somehow more .. I dunno… more ordinary than the ones that came before. And I say that despite extra EXTRA-ordinary things going on. That's perfectly clear, right? More realistic? No that's not it either. I'm probably getting these vibes because of the much more human focus on the relationships with and around Burdin… or is it the inhuman focus (haha, see what I did there? Of course not, you probably haven't read it yet!)? But there's a GROUP dynamic in this one - GO TEAM HATE CLEMENTINE! - that is at the foreground of pretty much everything going on. This compared to the stories that came before that had much more of a one-on-one vibe even though the one's being teamed up together changed throughout. So yeah, this one's got a really unique lilt to it.
I hate all of my bosses regardless of sex. I'm equal opportunity like that.
To that, there's definitely an odd … balance? imbalance? … throughout the book dealing with the politics of the Agency (assholes be praised) fighting for attention with the connections between our main players. That also includes, of course, the actual level of actual humanity many of these same folks possess. It's a lot to absorb and dissect even from one scene and/or meaning of same to the next, even if some of it at least has been an underlying theme from page 1, book 1. Still, you have to admit that the author is doing something right when you find yourself literally detesting a fictional character like we (should) do in this story. Same with movies, if you're hating the snarky guy or whomever, everyone has done their assigned job correctly. Yeah, I'm looking right at you Hans Gruber aka the late and very great Alan Rickman that I never could actually like LIKE ever again because he was just the perfect villain in that damn film (see also "Love Actually" and the Harry Potter films, even though admittedly I never did actually see the Harry Potter films)! And don't get me started about Gary Oldman either (wow, he was so freakin' good in "Léon" but damn how I hate him still!)…
Fuck my life. I need a break. I need a nap. And I need (no spoilers) to not be possessed by a demon playing games.
An absolutely terrific ending was just what the doctor ordered as well! Great surprises, closure on the big issue of the day and yet again, major kudos for an (or even more) awesome cliffhanger(s). I don't know where this Universe will be going next, but I intend to be on the spaceship exploring it for sure! Kids, even with the blemishes and hiccups and all that sexy stuff (ah the glory days when we were old enough to start dating), these books are/were/will be just fun as hell! Read them and prove me right. I - unlike others - am not playing games here! Enjoy!
Will people around me ever stop dying?
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-
(those last couple of sentences above were my original ending to this review that came AFTER the next couple of bits. I'm hoping most of you have stopped reading by now anyway. Yes, I'm going to be doing my best Ty imitation and be a bit of a d!ck, but only because I want to help mankind. No, that's not true, I'm probably really just a d!ck. It's a tough job but I think it's important to have hobbies you're good at…)
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-
-
-
-
-
OK, just to underline: loved the hell out of the book and the series so far… BUT I wasn't crazy to see that the editing once again took a dip in terms of quality and execution. I've said it before but just for the peanut gallery: I can tolerate a lot (twitching uncontrollably without becoming violent still counts as being tolerant!) but we've got to have at very least
(a) full-scale front assault in terms of spell-checking done, especially if there are homonyms present (e.g. your hand cannon = has 2 n's!);
(b) the basic conjugations of the "you're/your" family done all proper like (and similar examples, see also they're/there/their, etc.);
and
(c) the names of our own characters have to be spelled right with no exceptions. That means no Harntet's, no Hesltrom's or Helstom's either and for gods' sake never, ever Cloueasue! Poor Peter Sellers is no doubt spinning in his grave even now!
Again though, I'm doing the Happy Penguin "Just Smile and Wave" thing here because
(i) I know writing is a damn tough job and getting a book ready for release is just more difficulty added on top of that!
(ii) I have faith this young author will get things in hand sooner rather than later! And I definitely hope he's got a lot more stories left to tell!
Like I said in another review - and here I is speakin's to all of y'all - I highly suggest that in addition to a "table read", make sure your beta team has at least one total asshole included. We're, I mean, THEY'RE invaluable like that! Insert smiley emoji here, no? Anyway, 'bout time to get outta Dodge (note capital D as it refers to Dodge City, Kansas… and that's something new you know now! Yay long-winded book reviews and their intrinsic educational value!).
OK bye. And no, this last bit will never be put on Amazon, no worries, even if I am the only one in this region putting up English reviews. They won't even let me fucking cuss. Assholes.
“Which one?”
“Me, just now. Did you really think I was smart enough to quote someone else?”
“No, not really.”
This was a great, great story! The 'games' in question wound up being nothing like I expected and there was no way in Knoxville that I saw that ending coming! Sure, it was kind of a bummer that the execution dipped again but still, this particular BoB chapter was just so exciting and tense! Well, if you don't count all the barfing. Cussing? No problem. Sex? Don't mind if I do! Drugs, alcohol, rock-n-roll? Sign me up now! But describe the before, during and after bits of someone hurling WAY too much to be healthy and I remember that I'm probably way too engaged in the story for my own good. And that I definitely need to stop reading at breakfast. Hurrpp.
Deep, calming breaths. Peaceful oceans. Oceans of blood. Clementine's blood. No. Shit. Peaceful oceans. A breeze gently blows through a field of grass. A field with a little girl on a swing. Goddammit.
Having said that, overall, my impression of this book was that it was somehow more .. I dunno… more ordinary than the ones that came before. And I say that despite extra EXTRA-ordinary things going on. That's perfectly clear, right? More realistic? No that's not it either. I'm probably getting these vibes because of the much more human focus on the relationships with and around Burdin… or is it the inhuman focus (haha, see what I did there? Of course not, you probably haven't read it yet!)? But there's a GROUP dynamic in this one - GO TEAM HATE CLEMENTINE! - that is at the foreground of pretty much everything going on. This compared to the stories that came before that had much more of a one-on-one vibe even though the one's being teamed up together changed throughout. So yeah, this one's got a really unique lilt to it.
I hate all of my bosses regardless of sex. I'm equal opportunity like that.
To that, there's definitely an odd … balance? imbalance? … throughout the book dealing with the politics of the Agency (assholes be praised) fighting for attention with the connections between our main players. That also includes, of course, the actual level of actual humanity many of these same folks possess. It's a lot to absorb and dissect even from one scene and/or meaning of same to the next, even if some of it at least has been an underlying theme from page 1, book 1. Still, you have to admit that the author is doing something right when you find yourself literally detesting a fictional character like we (should) do in this story. Same with movies, if you're hating the snarky guy or whomever, everyone has done their assigned job correctly. Yeah, I'm looking right at you Hans Gruber aka the late and very great Alan Rickman that I never could actually like LIKE ever again because he was just the perfect villain in that damn film (see also "Love Actually" and the Harry Potter films, even though admittedly I never did actually see the Harry Potter films)! And don't get me started about Gary Oldman either (wow, he was so freakin' good in "Léon" but damn how I hate him still!)…
Fuck my life. I need a break. I need a nap. And I need (no spoilers) to not be possessed by a demon playing games.
An absolutely terrific ending was just what the doctor ordered as well! Great surprises, closure on the big issue of the day and yet again, major kudos for an (or even more) awesome cliffhanger(s). I don't know where this Universe will be going next, but I intend to be on the spaceship exploring it for sure! Kids, even with the blemishes and hiccups and all that sexy stuff (ah the glory days when we were old enough to start dating), these books are/were/will be just fun as hell! Read them and prove me right. I - unlike others - am not playing games here! Enjoy!
Will people around me ever stop dying?
-
-
-
(those last couple of sentences above were my original ending to this review that came AFTER the next couple of bits. I'm hoping most of you have stopped reading by now anyway. Yes, I'm going to be doing my best Ty imitation and be a bit of a d!ck, but only because I want to help mankind. No, that's not true, I'm probably really just a d!ck. It's a tough job but I think it's important to have hobbies you're good at…)
-
-
-
-
-
-
OK, just to underline: loved the hell out of the book and the series so far… BUT I wasn't crazy to see that the editing once again took a dip in terms of quality and execution. I've said it before but just for the peanut gallery: I can tolerate a lot (twitching uncontrollably without becoming violent still counts as being tolerant!) but we've got to have at very least
(a) full-scale front assault in terms of spell-checking done, especially if there are homonyms present (e.g. your hand cannon = has 2 n's!);
(b) the basic conjugations of the "you're/your" family done all proper like (and similar examples, see also they're/there/their, etc.);
and
(c) the names of our own characters have to be spelled right with no exceptions. That means no Harntet's, no Hesltrom's or Helstom's either and for gods' sake never, ever Cloueasue! Poor Peter Sellers is no doubt spinning in his grave even now!
Again though, I'm doing the Happy Penguin "Just Smile and Wave" thing here because
(i) I know writing is a damn tough job and getting a book ready for release is just more difficulty added on top of that!
(ii) I have faith this young author will get things in hand sooner rather than later! And I definitely hope he's got a lot more stories left to tell!
Like I said in another review - and here I is speakin's to all of y'all - I highly suggest that in addition to a "table read", make sure your beta team has at least one total asshole included. We're, I mean, THEY'RE invaluable like that! Insert smiley emoji here, no? Anyway, 'bout time to get outta Dodge (note capital D as it refers to Dodge City, Kansas… and that's something new you know now! Yay long-winded book reviews and their intrinsic educational value!).
OK bye. And no, this last bit will never be put on Amazon, no worries, even if I am the only one in this region putting up English reviews. They won't even let me fucking cuss. Assholes.
May 25, 2022
So I have finished the series and the 3 stars is for the 'Burdin-verse' all of which is more interesting than the protagonist who is simply an insufferable a-hole. To be honest, I skimmed large portions of the book just to get to the end of the journey as it just became boring. The lead-up to the big event was a let down. So there's that.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews