A Google user
I had a hard time getting into it, because of the overwhelming fantasy world you get thrown into, full of different planes and all sorts of new breeds of creatures (Well, familiar creatures, but different names). things seemed too slow for me in the beginning, but once things started rolling, I grew to enjoy the characters. Carrow is a wonderfully rounded heroine, and does well to get through her twists and turns and cruel circumstances.
The novel itself is well written in a very modern tone, so it's easy to relax with and enjoy. It's worth the buy!
Kelley Hayes
Enjoyed reading it. Seemed faster-paced than others. Didn't help I read this one all out of order (ha) than the others. This one wasn't fantastic but still good, an obvious stepping-stone in the series.
2 people found this review helpful
A Google user
In "Demon from the Dark," the 8th book in Kresley Cole's acclaimed Immortals After Dark series, multiple members of nearly every faction of the Immortal world of the Lore have been abducted by an unknown Mortal Order and brought to a concentration camp of sorts.
One such character is the New Orleans witch Carrow Graie, a.k.a. "Carrow the Incarcerated," dubbed so for the amount of nights she's had to sleep in County, due to myriad offenses--public magic, stealing a cop's horse, etc. She has been brought to this mysterious Order for a specific purpose: to enter the Demon Plane of Oblivion, a truly hellish landscape, and return with the elusive Malkom Slaine, a Scârba--a demon poisoned with vampire blood, thus giving them many traits of the latter. Colloquially known as vemons, the Scârba are the most physically powerful beings in the Lore, and generally regarded as abominations--and highly dangerous.
And if Carrow doesn't go to Oblivion and retrieve this vemon, then she and her late cousin's seven-year-old daughter Ruby won't go free.
Malkom Slaine, has lived a life of abuse, isolation, and general misery. Sold by his prostitute mother at a young age to a vampire lord, he was subjected to many sexual depravities until he was "too tall" for his "master." After living a rough, hunger-filled life on the streets of the city of Ash, he was eventually recruited by Prince Kallen the Great to fight for his army, and later to lead it. Kallen became the only friend Malkom ever had, except Kallen is no longer living. After being subjected to the atrocity of the Scârba ritual and turned into a vemon, Malkom eventually slaughtered the vampire who had turned him, and any other vampire who crossed his path, until they had fled the realm of Oblivion. Now he lives in complete isolation, a criminal and monster to his people, waiting for the traitorous demon leader Ronath to finally face (and fight) him.
This was his life, until Carrow crossed his path.
Out of all eight books (so far) in Cole's IAD series, I would say that this is by far the best one. And that's seriously saying something. But "Demon from the Dark" has a twisting plot that grabs you and never lets go, including some serious scares later on. But even more than the engrossing story, probably the best part of DftD is the progression of the relationship between Carrow and Malkom. And it is far from easy. In addition to the language barrier (Malkom purposefully forgot most of his "Anglish" long ago, as it reminded him too much of the vampires and the horrors he endured under their control), Malkom is a truly tortured individual who, despite most outward appearances, longs for the love and affection of someone who can look past the "abomination" that he is. As soon as Carrow entered the hell plane, Malkom knew instinctively that she was that person, and so he strives to please her in all ways he knows--including learning to write, and remembering Carrow's language.