The Highwayman

by Michele Hauf

Book Overview

Max Fitzroy, the legendary Highwayman, had slain scores of demons with a razorlike whip and a burning need for revenge. Now, to rid himself of the demon inside him--who'd cursed him with immortality... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0373618158
• ISBN13: 9780373618156
• Release Date: June 2009
• Publisher: Harlequin Nocturne
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.6"

Customer Reviews

A great start to the series

First in the Wicked Games series by Michele Hauf, The Highwayman is a romantic tale of an immortal demon hunter who has a little case of demon-itis himself. He seeks the help of a sultry witch's familiar in his quest to rid himself of the demon shadow that lives within him that robs him of all life's basic pleasures: food, sleep, and sexual satisfaction. I found the hero, Max Fitzroy, to be sweet, a little awkward in the matters of love and courtship, and most importantly sexy, all wrapped up in a hard candy shell. He has sworn to slay all demons and the familiars that bridge their way into this realm. However, Aby has him rethinking his plan of action. Aby, the sleek little kitten familiar, who managed to captivate Max from the moment he laid eyes on her is a little too trusting, a bit naive, but very likable. She seeks independence away from her beloved guardian, Severo the werewolf, and eventually finds that she's a kick ass little kitty in the process. I have to admit, I kept expecting Severo the werewolf to put a beat down on Max at any moment but Max never took the bait. The werewolf was willing though. That alpha male tension was present each time Severo was on the scene, and I think he's my kind of paranormal male. I look forward to reading his story in Moon Kissed, the next book in the Wicked Games series.

The Highwayman comes riding in search of love

Max Fitzroy, the legendary Highwayman, a fearsome hunter of demons and vampires, has been seeking a familiar, a conduit for demons, to help him rid himself of the demon-shadow lurking in his being. In the search to cast the demon out, he meets a callow yet feisty familiar named Aby who has started to come out from under the shadow of her werewolf protector, Severo (a cameo character from one of Michelle Hauf's "Bewitching the Dark"). At first, he sees her only as a means to an end, but slowly, he starts to see her as a person, as lovely young girl who's looking not just someone to have sex with in order to channel a demon into the world, but a lover and a good man to help her continue to blossom. My one qualm with this book is how awkwardly Michelle Hauf describes how familiars come into being: it's hard to tell if they are humans who can shapeshift into cats or cats who can shapeshift into humans, whether they're born this way or they become this way. Hopefully this will sort out in the future volumes of this neat new mini-series, which I am really excited about!

exhilarating romantic fantasy

Max Fitzroy the highwayman is renowned for his killing of familiars. So when feline familiar Aby recognizes she has just encountered Max, she expects him to kill one of her nine lives. Thus she is stunned when instead he asks for her help; not easy for Max to do as his gut instinct says kills her. He wants her to assist him in removing the demon shadow stuck inside his body since Paris 1758. He has not tasted any mortal pleasures in the two and a half centuries since. However, the pair quickly realize they must find his former partner Rainier who is stuck with the other half of the demon's shadow if he to rid himself of the blight. The only problem is that his ex associate prefers the status quo of what a demon has given him. This refreshing "triangle" makes for a wonderful exhilarating romantic fantasy that hooks the audience the moment Aby faces death when she meets Max; ironically she expects him to kill her yet is attracted to him in an ultimate form of tough love. The story line is fast-paced and filled with action, but it is the complicated relationships that turn the world of Michele Hauf into a fabulous read as the audience will wonder if this saga will end the same ways Alfred Noyes' poem did. Harriet Klausner