The Demon and the City: The Detective Inspector Chen Novels, Book Two

by Liz Williams

Book Overview

A demon cop in an unfamiliar city works his first homicide caseZhu Irzh is having trouble adjusting to life on Earth. The food is bland, the colors dim, and the weather much too chilly for a demon... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1597800473
• ISBN13: 9781597800471
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Night Shade Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Celestial Heaven is facing a takeover... and power struggles from within

While Chen is off vacationing in Hawaii with his demon wife Inari, Seneschal Zhu Irzh has been stuck doing police footwork: notifying Feng Shui practitioners of lapsed licenses and locating the ghost of the recently murdered Deveth Sardai, daughter of a powerful and rich Singapore Three family. Zhu has been accepted tenuously with the department, and Sergeant Ma, who has developed more composure in dealing with those from Hell, assists the investigation. However, Zhu's dedication to his job may be more due to the seductive attractiveness of Jhai Tserai, ruthless head of the Paugeng Corporation. Or maybe it's just the hot, tangled sex that Jhai and he share that clouds his mind? While Snake Agent was essentially Chen and Inari's story, City is from Zhu's view. It's his perspective of being from Hell, and interacting with Live people, that keeps the sly humor throughout, making the book a stand out, even when the pace can be slow. This book starts off with a slow start, despite the mayhem and murders piling up - Williams lays her bricks carefully one by one to build the story's foundation. World building in Snake Agent pays off and you can feel the ease the author has in further developing the characters of Zhu, Ma, and Badger. The pace picks up about halfway through, when Chen cuts his vacation short due to a disturbing phone call from Badger (tattletale!). Chen is Zhu's partner but also his conscience. When Chen discovers that his demon colleague might have been turning a blind eye to what Jhai has been up too: developing a drug that would change Celestial Beings, he knows it's time to pull in some heavy reinforcement of the Heavenly kind. Meanwhile, researcher Robin decides to free her unearthly subject, Mhara, from the experimentation project being done by her employer, Jhai. While their journey and story is important to the final resolution of the story, being chopped back and forth between Robin/Mhara and Chen/Zhu does become frustrating on the first read of the book. Robin just never did it for me as a character. More interesting is the story of Dowser and Feng Shui practitioner Paravang who serves the goddess Senitreya. His anger at Zhu for revoking his license, results in Paravang's bad decision to pay the Assassin Guild to rectify his loss of face by killing Zhu. However, killing a demon, especially one employed by law enforcement, isn't an easy thing and comes with a price, a heavy price that only Paravangs' dead and controlling mother can rectify. One of the difficulties of reading the Chen series is that the stories are not told or read easily - the plot is a thick stew with many parts. Various subplots and characters (which Williams expertly paints with few brushstrokes) hold keys to the mystery. These books are not fluff pieces to be read quickly, but to be absorbed and processed slowly. Unlike other reviewers, I actually liked Demon better then Snake Agent. I also don't see Chen as an "action" hero and he plays best when he

I liked it better than the first -- the Chinese mythic backstory is just totally cool.

This is the second Detective Inspector Chen book, but really it's Demon Policeman Zhu Irzh's book, and I liked it more than the first, SNAKE AGENT. I'm not going to bother with a plot-summary here -- it wouldn't make sense, and wouldn't help me convince you what a cool book this is. Hmm, how to do that? First, Liz Williams is a helluva storyteller. The pages turn, the characters take life, the plot twists... This is a very entertaining book. Well-written, explicitly adult, sometimes startlingly sexy, it unfolds like a lucid dream.... Second, the Chinese mythic backstory is just totally cool. I have no idea how close she hews to the real thing. Here's the author: "It's all based on actual Chinese mythology, however, which suggests the numerous levels, and which is also very bureaucratic. One reviewer hated the bureaucratic nature of hell and wondered why I'd been so unimaginative - but it is as faithful a reflection of Chinese myth as I can make it... I've always been interested in Chinese mythology but what really started [this series] off was a visit to Hong Kong in the early 90s. A friend of mine is a reporter for the South China Morning Post and at the time, she was writing two books about the colony, one on murder and the other on sex, and she was briefly going out with a cop on the HK vice squad. So there was plenty of material to draw on!" -- Author interview, see comments for link. If you haven't tried this series, or Liz Williams, this would be a fine place to start. Happy reading-- Peter D. Tillman

Not as wonderful as the first, but pretty close

In August of last year I reviewed the first book in a new series by author Liz Williams, Snake Agent. My introduction to that review read: "Take a healthy dose of mythology and eastern religion, mix in the humor of Big Trouble in Little China and the buddy-cop banter of Lethal Weapon and adorn with a fantastic Jon Foster cover and what do you get? Well, you get the beginnings of an entertaining new mystery series by author Liz Williams." Described as "John Constatine meets Chow Yun-Fat", the series follows the exploits of Detective Inspector Wei Chen and his demonic law enforcement counterpart, Seneschal Zhu Irzh, as they solve occultic crimes set in a near-future city called Singapore 3. The Demon and The City is the second in this series of buddy-cop/mythological/supernatural thrillers. One of the things I mentioned in the Snake Agent review is that these books are pure fun, and that hasn't changed one iota. Liz Williams writes these novels in such a way that they feel like movies and comparisons to films like Big Trouble in Little China and any Chow Yun-Fat film make me long to see one of her novels translated to the big screen. The Demon and the City starts off by focusing on the character of demonic detective Zhu Irzh, recently reassigned to the human realm because of events that occurred in Snake Agent. While I enjoy this character tremendously, the first novel hit its best notes when Detective Inspector Chen and Seneschal Zhu Irzh were together on the page, and that holds true for this novel as well. Although it takes awhile for Chen to make an appearance, the story flies by at a rollicking pace up to and following the point of his insertion into the mix. Liz Williams writes very short chapters, some a mere page in length, that dart back and forth amongst the various characters in the tale, deftly bringing them all together at crucial moments in the story. Reading a book like this is fantastic as there are so many natural stopping points that you can grab a few quick chapters throughout the day, making her books easy to read even with a busy schedule. If, however, you have the reaction I did to these books, you will get sucked right in and not want to stop until you see the words, "The End". I won't reveal anything else about the plot, because to do so would ruin a very fun experience. Suffice it to say that Liz Williams is a very talented writer who mixes in a wide and diverse range of influences, genres, and plot devices to create a unique world in which to house her stories. In the Snake Agent review I said: "...William's novel is hard to classify...the story abounds with magic as does a typical fantasy novel. It is a mystery, set in a near future science fiction universe replete with technology that would be at home in a story by Phillip K. Dick. It is also a primer for eastern mysticism and a view of earth, heaven, and hell steeped in ancient mythology. In addition there are elements of horror reminiscient of the aforement

A wonderfully woven tale

Ironically it was the cover art that first drew me to this series. But I soon found the books to be as wonderful as the artwork on the cover. Liz's way with the written word weaves a beautiful and very detailed story. I enjoyed the demon's major role in this book and do not mind that Chen took a "back" seat. In fact I am greatly looking forward to the next book in this series and hope it is as wonderful and rich a world as this one.

Not quite what I'd hoped for, but not bad

I loved the first Inspector Chen novel, Snake Agent. This one I just liked. The central character for most of the novel seemed to be demon-in-exile Zhu Irzh. While I like this character (for some reason, my mental image is of a six-foot-tall version of the eraly 1960s movie monster "Gorgo."), the novel lacked some of the magic of the first. While probably important for establishing the demon character for later books, Chen's presence was missed. The Inspector didn't arrive on the scene until about the halfway point, and even then it seemed like he was being carried along by events, rather than mastering them. The plot was suitably fantastic, the stakes are high, and there is a very satisfactory ending. It also leaves the reader wanting more information about the universe in which the characters reside. So don't get me wrong, it is a good read. I'm not turned off by the book, but it didn't quite meet my expectations for being an "Inspector Chen" novel - more like a "Novel of Singapore 3." I had the impression that there might have been more to the Chen-side of the story, but that a ruthless editor pruned the pages. Hopefully, Liz Williams has a more complete version that gives Inspector Chen more literary space. Hey, I'd buy an "unplugged" edition. I'm also ready to reserve the third book in the series.