Kiki's Reviews > Soul Thief

** spoiler alert ** My oh my, my heart hurts for Denver Beck! Good Lord and damned Lucifer---for all that is HOLY!

Book #2 of The Demon Trapper's Daughter opens with heartache and pain as Riley Blackthorne struggles with the loss of so many fellow trappers at the Tabernacle. The last trappers' meeting at this abandoned church was fatally interrupted as Hell's demons attacked, penetrating through the protective ward. Was it compromised holy water or did Riley's reanimated father betray his own kind?

Soul Thief takes you for a helluva ride in this sequel as Riley Blackthorne comes to terms with the loss of her sweet boyfriend, Simon, now turned paranoid-cold-as-ice "I don't trust anyone" EX, embraces a dark Fallen angel (i.e., Ori), and realizes Beck's feelings for her far exceed just the typical boy-girl attraction of "I'm totally turned on by you".

Riley is one word - kickass! She's a magnet for all of heaven's saints and hell's fiends. Caught in between the battle between good versus evil and lost in the midst of an ancient war between archangels and Fallen, Riley is no ordinary 17-year-old teenager. She's made a deal with Martha, an angel from above, whose motive has yet to be revealed. And even though I screamed a ginormous "HELL TO THE NO", she made a deal with Lucifer himself, the Prince of Hell. Oh no she d-i-d-n-'-t!

Simon – he's gone haywire. Something came undone in his head/heart the minute he recovered from his injuries sustained during the Tabernacle attack. He’s suddenly no longer sweet and loving. Somehow, he became this bipolar freak who thinks Riley should no longer be trusted and is to blame for the demons' victory during the attack. Crazy how he thinks she sold her soul to Hell when she made a pact with Heaven to save his sorry behind!

Ori – okay, told you in my Forsaken review that there was more to him than meets the eye and that I had an inkling I knew what he was. Sure enough, I was right! But, I was mistaken in not seeing his darkness as he is a Fallen. Eeeeek! Seriously, as sexy handsome as he was, I knew he couldn’t be mortal. The whole “midnight-black hair and bottomless dark eyes” – that should have given him away. The ultimate bad boy…and he surely is. I’m so pissed Riley gave her VG to Ori….arrgghh! That had BECK written all over it! YES, I’m so upset!!!! But hahaah, I’m happy Lucifer bounced in and turned Ori to statue. He deserved so much worse than that!

Beck – my hero, even though he hasn’t saved Riley just yet (yeah yeah, Ori saved her twice from that Grade Five demon but his intentions were impure)! Beck’s loving heart is so pure it’s full of light, and that’s all that matters. My heart keeps breaking every time Beck and Riley are in the same room because every cell in my body is screaming, “THESE TWO SHOULD BE TOGETHER!” But they don’t act upon the sparks flying between the two of them…and yes, she’s 17 and he’s 22, but in my head, the loss of both her parents aged her to age 25 already. He loves her so but can never have her…that is the mantra he lives by, and it torments me so. Forgiven (TBR Winter 2012) better bring these two together, or ELSE.

The “or else” was meant for you, Jana….yes, the author! Duh duh dum!!! Obviously, I am crazy about this particular series…it’s urban fantasy like you’ve never read before. Such an EPIC success - it's all because of Beck! Totally five stars!!!