Green-Eyed Demon – the Sabina Kane series, Book 3

Books:

    1.     Red-headed Stepchild (April 1, 2009)

    2.     Mage in Black (April 2, 2010) – 3 out of 5

    3.     Green-Eyed Demon (March 1, 2011) – 3.5 out of 5

“Exhale. Squeeze. Explosion. Chaos.”

Author: Jaye Wells
Narrator:  Cynthia Holloway – 3.5 out of 5
Length: 11:12 hours, purchased on audible 

 

Summary:

Sabina Kane, a rare half-vampire half-mage assassin, spent the first 53 years of her life living in L.A., doing the dirty work of the Dominae, the governing body for vampires led by her maternal grandmother.  Her world is turned upside-down after her twin, a Mage Oracle, announces to the dark races her prophecy – that Sabina will unite the dark races.  But not everyone wants peace.  The Dominae want war, so that they can resurrect to gods of the past.  Now, as Halloween draws closer,  time is running out.

At the beginning of Green-Eyed Demon, Sabina’s twin has been kidnapped by the Dominae, and the only way Sabina can save her life is to either trade in her own or to kill everyone responsible.  Sabina travels to New Orleans to save her twin, stop a war, confront the gods, and come to terms with her past. 

Sabina Kane’s To Do List:

1.         Perform voodoo ritual on evil owl;

2.         Find out who sold us out to the anachronistic  
      cast vampires;

3.         Make amends with lesbian werewolf;

4.         Rescue twin; 

5.         Murder grandmother.

Dangerous Plot Curves Ahead:

I’ve previously reviewed second book here. Jaye Wells keeps the best parts of Mage in Black in this third audiobook, from her fast-paced “from the frying pan into the fryer” plot twists, to the loveable Giguhl taking another bullet in the tush.  There are also new elements in this book that build and improve on the previous ones.  For example, Jaye Wells adds a bit more depth in her humorous characters.  Specifically, we are introduced to a fairy – in more ways than one - named Brooks/Pussy Willow.  I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t listened to the audiobook yet, but this character grows in complexity.  For me, however, both Sabina and Adam remained static throughout the three novels.  Also, Jaye Wells builds on those lovely plot twists that make the listener come back for more. Green-Eyed Demon has an honest-to-goodness mystery plot, where Sabina must figure out who among her new community in New Orleans is a traitor to the Dominae.  Mage in Black had a mystery plot with regard to which mage was trying to kill Sabina in New York City, but in my opinion it wasn’t a very successful mystery because the listener sees it coming.  Not so in Green-Eyed Demon. The resolution to the mystery in this audiobook is what I call an “Oh!” moment.  That’s when the audiobook presents enough suspects with enough motives that you don’t see it coming, but there is also enough foreshadowing specific to the perpetrator that you kind of should have.  The result is that when the book reveals who’s responsible, you actually, audibly, say “Oh!”  

On Narration:

I’ve previously reviewed Cynthia Holloway’s reading of this series here. There’s not much to add.  I still feel that Cynthia Holloway’s voice is great for this series, although not as spot-on as with a few other popular series in the genre.  I also think that the voice is young and feminine enough to makes the Sabina Kane series appeal more to a younger audience than the one probably targeted, which is not necessarily a bad thing.