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Book Review of The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, Bk 1)

The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, Bk 1)
reviewed on + 77 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


Heads up on this book - rated R for very explicit S&M scenes, heavy on the S. This is a Urban Fantasy with a different set-up. Demons are real. However, they don't really match the biblical idea of demons. They're simply incorporeal beings from another realm. Of course, they do posses humans, and certainly have a somewhat different view of the world than humans do as well. People can volunteer to be possessed by a demon. They gain certain advantages - strength, healing, the knowledge of a being that has been around for quite a while. However, they also live out the rest of their lives as a spectator in their body. Demons can also posses people against their will. If they are found out they are arrested and an exorcist called in. If the exorcist fails the host is burned alive. Either way results in the death of the demon.

There are fanatics on both sides - those who adore demons and those who despise them. Morgan was brought up in a family of adoring fanatics. When her older brother was of legal age he chose to become a host. Morgan doesn't really have any soft spots for demons, which certainly makes her job as an exorcist a bit easier. Then things start going wrong. During an exorcism in Kansas the host escapes the restraints and touches Morgan's bare skin - normally all that's needed for the demon to pass from one host to another. Except that it doesn't and she succeeds in exorcising him.

Over all I enjoyed the book. The Sadism was a bit much occasionally, but I didn't find it that bad. The thing that really drove me nuts about the book was Morgan. The author was clearly going for a smart-ass heroine with a few hang-ups. Instead we got protagonist that was b*tchy, whiny and judgmental. I wanted to slap her sometimes. Due to her attitude problems she kept shoving away people trying to help her, at one point almost getting one of them arrested for murder. I understand that a lot was happening to her, but I had a difficult time sympathizing with her. It got a bit better toward the end.

The supporting cast was excellent though. Looking at some other reviews book 2 gets better, so I'll definitely keep going.