Devil's Kiss

Devil's Kiss, Sarwat Chadda, could be classified as 'dark romance', or whatever you marketing people are calling it these days.
    Billi SanGreal has been part of the Knights Templar, a secret organization that has been around since Roman times who destroyed the things that hide in the shadows, since she was young.  Together with her best friend Kay she navigated the ups and downs of being trained as a warrior, a killer of the supernatural.  But then Kay, a talented physic, left to study in Israel.  When he comes waltzing back, he seems to think that everything can just go back to normal between them. Things in Billi's life have changed forever, though, and she just can't understand why Kay abandoned her to her father and the other members of the Knights Templar who hate her.  Things begin to look up for Ms. SanGreal, though, when she save a handsome guy from muggers on a train.   But it would do Billi good to remember that just as it is always darkest before the light, it is always lightest before the dark.  And it's going to get very, very dark.

As this book starts out, you're like, *yawn*, another typical dark-romance, supernatural-hunting, love-triangle-inspecting, novel.  Oh, joy.  But you stick with it because the writing's good and Billi's real and believable and the demons are creepy, and then, not even half way through the book, there's a twist that makes you hit yourself on the forehead and shout "I should've seen coming!"  But you didn't, even if you did happen to read the end of the book first.
    There's another twist about forty pages from the end of the book, and then another one that's gleefully mischievous and sadly heart wrenching about ten pages from the end of the book.  You could figure out the last twist by reading the end, yes, but it still doesn't make it any less sad.  The middle twist leaves you with your mouth hanging saying "Whaa . . . ?  That came from absolutely no where, with very little background in the plot line at all."  And then you think on it, and a ligthbulb clicks on in your head, and you're like "Oh, wait . . . Now that my thinking device up in my skull's been turned on, it does.  Got it."
      So, good points for the story:  I love the plot twists.  I love the creepiness.  Billi seems to be feasible character, a character who I would love to be (stubborn, street-smart, supernatural-smart, and tough).  Actually, all of the characters seemed to be alive in some way.  I wouldn't be surprised if someone told me that they're walking the streets of London right now.  I also enjoyed that the ending of the book didn't give away too much of the story . . .
      My memory's a bit patchy on the finer details of the tale, because I read it two weeks ago, but I remember that I refused to put it down, even as I ate ice cream we got at some ice cream parlor.  I remember that I started it before dinner and finished it at ten at night. And I remember that my heart fluttered with Billi's, my eyes weeped with Billi's, and I felt a murderous desire to hurt the archangel with Billi.  It wasn't an unusual experience, for me, but it was a very nice one.  I usually don't feel all of those emotions in one night.  My range of activities doesn't permit it.  So, we could say that fighting with the Knights Templar through the writing of  Mr. Chadda is a complete and totally escape from reality, as well as an exhilarating way to live vicariously.
       I liked what it said on the back of the book.  I forgot to write it down, but it went something like "There's nothing to fear but fear itself . . . and Billi SanGreal." 
       Um, evidently there is a new book out, but I haven't read it yet.  I will, though, I will.  It'll take Billi SanGreal and a whole lotta Unholy to stop me.  (Ha ha.  Yes, I am a riot.  They do tell me that.  Right before they throw rotten vegetables at me and chase me out of the room.)
      So, Ms. SanGreal, just remember that before you take one step forward into the world of adults, remember to keep a foot in the past, a hand on your best friend's shoulder, and an eye out for things that never are as they seem.  Because if you don't, it could cost you dearly. . . in a currency far more precious than money.

So, for more on Billi SanGreal and Sarwat Chadda please visit www.sarwatchadda.com  Information on his new books and the whatnot can be found here.  Enjoy.