Jesse James Dawson may not have the magical chops of his
fellow warriors, but he makes up for it in kendo skill and
sheer chutzpah. He risks his life time after time taking on
the contracts of those who have sold their soul to a demon
then negating that contract by sending the demon back to
Hell one slice at a time.
It has been a rough summer for Jesse and those around him.
He is having a lot of trouble shaking off the most recent of
his battles, when he came inches from dying. He's doing his
best to keep things on an even keel, having his annual
barbeque and snarky t-shirt contest, heading off to the
wilds of Colorado with his buds on their annual camping (and
paint ball war) trip but
he is riding close to the edge and he knows it. Then his own
personal demon shows up with warnings of trouble on the way,
but how can he trust a demon to tell the truth? There has to
be some hidden agenda involved and Jesse is not going to
wreck his buddies' trip on the demon's say so.
This is the first book I've read by K. A. Stewart, and I
regret the time wasted before discovering her work. She has
created an urban fantasy with the same touch of darkness I
found in Butcher's Dresden series but instead of the
champion looking in on the lives of those he protects, Jesse
is surrounded by family. He is a father of a little girl,
husband of a wonderful witch of a wife, and closely connected
to his brother and some really great friends. It makes his
life so much more complicated, but also keeps him grounded
in what is important, and makes him an unforgettable
character. Stewart also has a wicked sense of humor which I
find irresistible, especially when mixed in with impeccable
plotting and a story crammed with danger written with
razor's-edge intensity. (One of those t-shirt slogans is
going to wind up on my husband's grilling apron, too.)
THE ENEMY OF HIS ENEMY
Jesse James Dawson is a Champion, putting his life on the
line for those foolish enough to bargain with demons and
fighting to save their souls. But even a Champion needs some
downtime, so Jesse takes his annual camping trip to Colorado
for some male bonding over friendly games of paintball.
Unfortunately, the fun and war games are interrupted by a
pack of creatures summoned up from the very depths of hell
by an entity Jesse prayed he'd never see again. With the
lives of his friends and a teenager's soul on the line,
Jesse's only hope may lie with an even more dangerous
enemy--his personal demon, Axel...