I received this book for free from the library in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: the library
The Devil’s Right Hand
by
Lilith Saintcrow
urban fantasy in Paperback edition that was published by Orbit on 2007 and has 416 pages.
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Other books by this author which I have reviewed include Hunter’s Prayer, Redemption Alley, Flesh Circus, Working for the Devil, Heaven's Spite, The Demon's Librarian, Dead Man Rising, Steelflower, Saint City Sinners, To Hell and Back, Death's Excellent Vacation, Chicks Kick Butt, Dark and Stormy Knights, Angel Town, Storm Watcher, Fire Watcher, Cloud Watcher, Mindhealer, The Iron Wyrm Affair, The Red Plague Affair, Dark Watcher, To Hell and Back, Trailer Park Fae, Roadside Magic
Third in the Dante Valentine urban fantasy series set in an alternate world. Yup, Lucifer has forced Danny back into his employ.
My Take
Well, Lucifer and Japhrimel. Japh did an end-run on Dante, and she now has to serve the Devil for the next seven years as his Right Hand, read “assassin”. But Lucifer also has to protect Danny throughout eternity, and Japh gets his full Demon power back even though he’s Fallen. All that they have to do is find four of the Greater Flight demons who have escaped Hell. Oh, well, if that’s all…
Almost as soon as they both agree to the bargain, everything falls apart. Only, Dante then discovers who one of the demons is, and somehow Dante must find a way out of that bargain.
I think I’m still reading this series due to entropy; I’ve fallen in and can’t stop until I reach the end. I like the concept of Dante and there certainly is no shortage of action. If only there were a shortage of Dante’s brain. Christ, whine, whine, whine! And she’s supposed to be one of the best necromancers in the world? I’m terrified that all the others are so much less because I’m surprised she managed to make it to this point at all. No, I take that back. As long as emotion is not involved Danny seems to function/fight just fine. Get emotion involved and she goes all to pieces. Can’t think. Can’t function. Just seems to stand there and do what Danny does best — whine and short circuit her brain into stupid land.
I can understand her being cautious about Japh. He is a demon after all and demons lie. But if she ever sat down and made a list of the positives and negatives, she’d shut up. Actually, if Dante and Japh would sit down and talk, I suspect things would go much better which would probably screw up the storyline, so what do I know. I suspect Saintcrow modeled Valentine after Anita Blake. Another necromancer with relationship issues. Unfortunately, Saintcrow didn’t think it all the way through. Thank god that Anita at least doesn’t whine.
Devil’s Right Hand is the start of a new major action. I want to say it’s a bridge novel, but it starts the sequence I suspect will be continued in Saint City Sinners, 4.
The Cover and Title
The cover is stark and makes me think of Emma Peel and the Avengers with the title as very clean graffitti.
The title reflects Dante’s own title as The Devil’s Right Hand.
