A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton

A Terrible Fall of Angels by Laurell K. Hamilton - 388 pages

This book is the first in a new series for the the prolific Hamilton.  Zaniel Havelock is a cop that can talk to the divine which makes him the one tapped to investigate a demon possession murder.  Hamilton unfortunately falls back into her pattern of being way to in the head of the characters and having them voice every thought in their heads to the other characters as an exposition dump for the reader.  Hopefully other books in the series will be better since this world building is out of the way now.  
 

The Chestnut Soldier by Jenny Nimmo

The Chestnut Soldier by Jenny Nimmo - 203 pages
The Magician Trilogy #3

Nia's cousin Evan has come to visit to recover from injuries sustained as a soldier.  Unfortunately, his visit is used by an ancient "demon" as a chance to possess him.  Magician Gwyn and Nia will have to work hard to save Evan and everybody.

This is the final book in the Magician Trilogy.  I listened to it on audiobook.  While I enjoyed the book, it was probably my least favorite out of the series.  It was just longer with more build-up.  The other books seemed more succinct in telling the story.  Still, it was a good conclusion to the trilogy.

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare - 425 pages
Mortal Instruments #4

Things should be going great after the war with Valentine.  But everything seems to be going wrong.  Jace is having nightmares.  Simon is being attacked constantly and was kicked out of the house by his mother.  Alec is jealous of Magnus' past relationship with the vampire Camille.  Then they discover someone is trying to create demonic babies . . .

This is the fourth book in the Mortal Instruments series.  It is almost a reset of the series after the last book.  It introduces new characters and resets relationships within the series. 

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco

The Suffering by Rin Chupeco - 320 pages

This is the sequel to The Girl from the Well.  Okiku and Tark have reached an understanding where the vengeful spirit and the boy can coexist.  But stresses in Tark's life at school bring out the worst in both of them and it brings another student to harm.  A friend of theirs back in Japan led an expedition into the so called "Suicide Forest" and is missing so Okiku and Tark leave to go and try and find their friend.  They stumble into a mystery that blends the present and past in terrifying ways.

This book wasn't as good as The Girl from the Well.  It suffers some from heavy handed exposition where a lot of the background is told to the reader by a character who wanders through just for that reason and nothing more.  The violence in this teen series is pretty strong so it might be an issue for younger teens.   

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco

The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco - 304 pages

As you can guess from the cover and the tag line "I am where dead children go" this teen book is pretty creepy. Okiku is a lonely spirit of a young Japanese girl who has been roaming the earth for centuries wreaking vengeance on those who murder children.  She frees the souls of their victims so they can move on to the next phase of existence.  Her vengeance takes her to the town of Tark, a young moody boy with intricate tattoos that have a mind of their own.  Okiku sees the evil trapped within the boy and makes it her mission to free him from it but there is a terrible risk he might die in the process. 

This book reads like a movie from The Ring series at times with how the action is described.  It's not for the faint of heart.  It goes into a lot of Japanese culture that was very interesting. 

Twin Star Exorcists, v. 8 by Yoshiaki Sukeno

Twin Star Exorcists, v. 8 by Yoshiaki Sukeno - 200 pages

Rokuro, Benio, Shimon and Miyura head to Magano to rescue Sayo.
This volume is basically one big long fight scene.  There are a couple of reveals such as Benio's guardian spirit and Miyura's source of power.

Twin Star Exorcists, v. 7 by Yoshiaki Sukeno

Twin Star Exorcists, v. 7 by Yoshiaki Sukeno - 202 pages

Rokuro is finally going through his Ascertainment Test and the spirit possessing him is a huge surprise!  Then Sayo is kidnapped by two Basura and it is up to Rokuro, Benio, Shimon, and Mayura to rescue her.

I am loving this series.  The only bad thing is that I have now caught up with the published books and will have to wait for the new books to come out.

Swoon by Nina Malkin

Swoon by Nina Malkin 421 pages

Torn from her native New York City and dumped in the land of cookie-cutter preps, Candice is resigned to accept her posh, dull fate. Nothing ever happens in Swoon, Connecticut...until Dice's perfect, privileged cousin Penelope nearly dies in a fall from an old tree, and her spirit intertwines with that of a ghost. His name? Sinclair Youngblood Powers. His mission? Revenge. And while Pen is oblivious to the possession, Dice is all too aware of Sin. She's intensely drawn to him - but not at all crazy about the havoc he's wreaking. Determined to exorcise the demon, Dice accidentally sets Sin loose, gives him flesh, makes him formidable. Now she must destroy an even more potent - and irresistible - adversary, before the whole town succumbs to Sin's will. Only trouble is, she's in love with him.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordanamy,

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan - 516 pages
Book 1 - The Kane Chronicles

Carter and Sadie Kane are devastated when their dad blows up the Rosetta Stone on Christmas Eve.  The worst part isn't that the police think their dad is a terrorist and that they were accomplices -- the worst part is that their dad released five Egyptian gods and one them overtook their dad and sealed him into a coffin.  Now they have to work together to rescue their dad and stop the Egyptian god Set from taking over the United States.

This is the first book in the Kane Chronicles by Rick Riordan -- the writer of the Percy Jackson books.  It is his take on Egyptian mythology.  The book is presented as a recording of the story of Sadie and Carter -- which worked well, especially as I listened to the audio version.  The two narrators did a great job of differentiating between the characters but yet still making it clear who was talking.  I thought the book was a little slow to start but seemed to pick up as it neared the end.  While it wasn't as engrossing as the two Percy Jackson series, I am intrigued enough to listen to the next two books in the series.

A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell

A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell - 323 pages
A Witchcraft Mystery #2

Lily's been asked by her assistant Maya to check out the sounds of a haunting at her art school.  When she goes to investigate, she discovers the body of a murdered man.  While most everyone at the school assumes the ghost killed him, Lily knows that it was a man.  But it turns out that man might have been possessed by a demon that was bound into a hidden closet in the school.  Now Lily has to find out who the demon is and get rid of him before more people get hurt.

I enjoyed this book as much as the first one in the series.  It was a light, fun mystery to read.  It was also a quick read.  The only thing that bothered me was the main love interest that seems to waffle way too much between believing and not believing in the supernatural.

Pandora Hearts, v.20 by Jun Mochizuki

Pandora Hearts, v.20 by Jun Mochizuki - 204 pages

This volume gives a little back story on Uncle Oscar Vessilius and his motivations.  It also gives some more information on Oz's father.
I'm still loving the series and can't wait for the next volume.