Stacia Kane

Megan Chase — (2008-2010) Publisher: Megan promises listeners to her new radio call-in show that she'll "slay their personal demons," and they believe her. So do the personal demons... although she doesn't know it, Megan is the only human without a demon on her shoulder! Megan and her allies — a demon lover who both protects and seduces her with devilish intensity, a witch with poor social skills, and three cockney guard demons — have to deal not only with the personal demons, but a soul-sucker, ghosts of Megan's past, and a reporter who threatens to destroy Megan's career!

Personal Demons

One thing my mom likes to remind me of repeatedly is positive reinforcement. Always start with the good, she likes to say, because if you start with the bad, that's all people will hear (or read, as the case may be). Admittedly, it's not something I'm very good at. I tend to think in chronological order, so if I didn't like things at the beginning of the book, that's where I'll start.

And the thing is, Stacia Kane's Personal Demons is a very good example of why you shouldn't let a shaky beginning ruin the whole ride. I admit, I giggled when I read the name The Accuser. I giggled even more when I read the name Greyson Dante. I boggled at why the heck Kane bothered writing it in the third person when we weren't going to get to see anyone else's point of view and I wondered why someone had replaced the editor with a butcher. Seriously, in the beginning there are places where it feels like things got cut out, things that would have made other things make more sense. Usually I'm all for strict editing, but geez! I think someone got a little too chop-happy here.

In spite of all that I kept reading, and a good thing, too. Because holy crap, Stacia Kane can write a scary scene. When she wants to, she can grab you by the throat with tension and fear. I just wish she'd done a bit more of it. I'd be interested to see what she could do with straight horror.

The characters kind of grew on me after a while. I like that Megan isn't a butt-kicking hard-ass with an attitude problem. Not only that, but the thought of wearing make up and a pretty dress excites her, rather than igniting a round of grumbling and griping. Shocking, I know. And though you don't get their POVs ever, the supporting cast is pretty fun, too. In spite of his silly name, Dante still managed to yank my Bad Boy chain like a monkey swinging from a church bell. And though they have ridiculous names (Maleficarum? Spud? Seriously?) and what just might be some of the worst written cockney accents in the history of literature, Megan's three demon bodyguards are hilarious. They do hair! And make up! And when one of the others called Spud a "daft old sow" I almost fell out of my chair. It's just so delightfully incongruous. I couldn't help but love them for it.

Though it doesn't exactly have the most original and distinctive plot ever, Personal Demons holds its own. I could have wished to see a little more of Megan actually performing her job of radio talk show host. On the other hand, I like the interesting line that Personal Demons walks between paranormal romance and urban fantasy. I'd definitely say it leans more to the latter, while adopting a few more paranormal romance-like traits in a way that I could really appreciate. I mean, hello, it's not told from first person POV. I honestly developed a little bit of a girl crush on Ms. Kane for that, because I was beginning to think it was illegal or something to write an urban fantasy in anything but first person.

I waffled a bit with the score for Personal Demons. I wasn't quite sure I'd call it a four star book, but it wasn't really a three star book, and even three and a half didn't quite cover it. In spite of its flaws, Stacia Kane has really created something quite delightful here. So in the end I decided to just round up.
—Beth   Comments

Personal Demons

I'm glad I read Beth's review of Personal Demons before I read the book. It meant I was prepared for the choppiness in the beginning chapters. There are some strange cuts and splices. In particular, there are several instances where important, plot-relevant conversations occur offscreen and are only mentioned in retrospect as Megan muses about them. I think it would have been more effective to show these conversations rather than narrate about them after the fact. I also had trouble getting a feel for the passage of time in these early chapters. I would think days passed, and it would turn out to be hours, or vice versa.

However, having read Beth's review, I knew it would be worth my while to persevere. Personal Demons turned out to be a fun novel, if not necessarily one that will stick in my mind forever. I love the premise: Megan, a psychologist, is the host of a radio talk show that promises to "slay your personal demons." Megan thinks it's bad enough that her boss makes her use that cheesy tag line, but when it turns out that personal demons actually exist and take her threat literally, she's got bigger problems on her plate. Like, say, fighting for her life.

Stacia Kane mixes this fast-paced plot with some humor and a heavy dollop of romance, and the result is a quick, enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to seeing what's next for Megan in Demon Inside.
—Kelly   Comments

Demon Inside

You know your family is dysfunctional when demons are better company.

As Demon Inside begins, Megan Chase is adjusting to her new role as Gretneg of the personal demons. A Gretneg is a leader, similar to a Mafia don, and much like a Mafia don, Megan has to show a ruthless side in order to keep her charges' respect and avoid being bullied by other Gretnegs. This is no easy task. Megan shrinks from the violent discipline the demons are used to. A rival demon has murdered several of Megan's demons. To top everything off, Megan's maybe-boyfriend Greyson is being evasive, and Megan is not sure where she stands with him.

At first, Demon Inside was exactly the book that Personal Demons led me to expect it would be. The early chapters are chock full of action and sex, but sometimes it got a little confusing as the plot careens from one scene to the next at breakneck pace.

Then, Stacia Kane throws us a curveball.

It happens about a third of the way into Demon Inside. A family tragedy sends Megan back to her crummy hometown, seemingly away from the thick of the action. In reality, though, when Megan goes home, she's moving closer to the heart of things. I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say that Megan has one seriously toxic family. My heart broke for her. Hidden in her family's past is a secret that helped create Megan's present situation. Only through facing her past demons — both literal and metaphorical — can she survive the confrontation that lies ahead.

In addition to enjoying the exciting, emotional plotline, I also loved Kane's scene-setting in Demon Inside. Her prose is straightforward and unpretentious, and there's no one phrase that sticks out in my memory, but add it all up, and this is definitely a writer who can paint a vivid picture. I especially liked the demon funeral, which was both creepy and surprisingly beautiful, and the demonic battle played out against a sleepy Christmas scene.

Stacia Kane has far surpassed Personal Demons with Demon Inside. I enjoyed Personal Demons, but I never imagined its sequel would suck me in like this. —Kelly   Comments

Demon Possessed

The title Demon Possessed has a double meaning. On the surface, it seems to refer to the book’s murder-mystery plotline, which involves several characters who may or may not be possessed by demons. But it also refers to Megan, who must decide in this installment whether to become fully “possessed” by Greyson, the demon world, and the demonic side of her own nature.

The interpersonal-relationships plotline is the real gem in Demon Possessed. Stacia Kane does a great job of portraying Megan as a modern career woman thrust into a demon society that’s almost medieval in its treatment of women. Megan faces the work vs. family issue that so many women have to contend with, and due to the constraints of demon politics, she has fewer viable choices than most of us. She learns that Greyson must marry soon to secure his position, and that if she marries him, she’ll have to give up her job for safety reasons. Her other options are becoming his mistress while he contracts an arranged marriage, or giving him up entirely. This dilemma leads to an absolutely wrenching fight between the two. Kane puts Megan and Greyson (and the reader) through the wringer, and just when you think it can’t get any more painful, Malleus, Maleficarum, and Spud express their own feelings about the matter. I dare you not to need Kleenex while reading this scene!

There’s also a mystery plotline, as mentioned above. It concerns an FBI agent snooping around a demon leaders’ meeting, some grisly murders, and a Bible-thumping exorcist plying his trade just down the road from the meeting. Megan and friends must figure out how all these things are connected before they become the killer’s next victims. There’s a lot of adrenaline in this plotline, but it ultimately pales next to the Megan/Greyson plotline. The mystery’s most harrowing moments come when it intersects with the love story. Each plot helps ramp up the tension in the other and, in the end, it’s a complication in the murder plot that leads Megan to realize what she really wants.

Throughout the Megan Chase series, Stacia Kane has built an intricate demon world and populated it with distinctive characters and, along the way, she’s honed her plotting skills (there aren’t any moments in Demon Possessed where scenes feel missing or out of order). Here, everything comes together. Kane’s world throws huge obstacles into her characters’ lives, and the characters have been developed so well that it hurts to see them suffer! If you’ve been following Megan’s story, you’ll definitely want to read Demon Possessed and learn whether she and Greyson manage to work it out.
—Kelly   Comments