Working for the Devil (Dante Valentine, Book 1)

by Lilith Saintcrow

Book Overview

When the Devil needs a rogue demon killed, who does he call? The Player: Necromance-for-hire Dante Valentine is choosy about her jobs. Hot tempered and with nerves of steel, she can raise the dead... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316003131
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Orbit
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 1.0" x 4.3"

Customer Reviews

Stellar Urban Fantasy

I loved this book. It was raw, harsh and brash. Dante Valentine is my kind of gal and I cheered for her all the way, and cried with her at the end. I'm loving this series and hope it has many many more stories to come.

If your taste in books bends a little beyond center, something off the familiar path

if LKH "Guilty Pleasures", and Robin McKinely's "Sunshine" are among your KEEPERS, then this is one you will thoroughly enjoy. I'm stingy with my "5"s, and have already preordered the next in the series. Enough said.

Awesome!

This book hooked me in from the very beginning. From page one I wanted to keep reading, and reading so I could find out what would happen next. And there was absolutely nothing predictable about Danny or the world she lives in. There are necromances, hedgewitches, healers, shamans, demons and even the Devil himself! Honestly, this paranormal world of the future was outstanding in description and the way it functioned. Danny Valentine is a necromance with outstanding power. One rainy afternoon she gets an unexpected visit from a demon called Japhrimel, claiming Lucifer wants to see her. He's got a job for her, one she has no choice but to take - she needs to kill a demon called Santino and retrieve something the Devil calls the Egg. The adventure is great and Danny's past intriguing! I enjoyed every minute of it and loved all the wonderful characters introduced in this book. I truly can't wait to see what happens next in this series... absolutely awesome! If you're looking for a terrific book with a tough heroine, terrific cast and interesting quest -- you have to check this one out!

GREAT!

Dante Valentine, necromancer, has been recruited for a new job - whether she wants it or not. Japhrimel, a demon assassin, accompanies her to his boss, Satan, on a trip thru hell. After surviving that visit, Dante's not sure what could be worse, but she begins by getting in touch with her contacts. Unfortunately the rumor of her having picked up a demon precedes her, and most of her acquaintances want nothing to do with her. Despite the setbacks, Dante inches forward in her investigation, learning what she needs to as well as realizing that demons are a lot like humans - no one is the same. Great story - I've ordered the rest of her work, and I can't wait for the next Dante book.

An Unexpectedly Good Read!

Warning, a few spoilers, but I try not to reveal particular details. Okay, I just read "Working for the Devil" by Lilith Saintcrow. I almost didn't, because the author's pen name seemed a bit to obvious and overdone, and that didn't inspire great expectations for the writing. The main character also had a pretty obvious name, Dante Valentine, and my expectations kept dropping... oh my, I thought, it's going to be gooey and predictable and sort of sponge cake romance. Which only proves the adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover." or by overly mary-sue type names. I really, REALLY, liked this book. It starts off pretty interesting, and gets KICK ASS fairly quickly. It does however have a rather dark and mixed 'win/lose' ending. And I really REALLY liked the main character, Dante "Danny" Valentine - and there is a good excuse for her name. The world the story is set in was pleasantly unique and sort of spell-punk, near future, dark fantasy. It's where you can watch Indiana Jones on a holovid, and Necromances are a rare type of Psionic human, and those who have psionic powers are both known, and regulated. Demons can and do walk among humans, and in Dante's case, show up on her doorstep and invite her to go to Hell at gunpoint, so that the big boss can have a talk with her. Dante is a Necromance for hire, and doing what she can to pay off her house mortgage by taking on Bounty Hunter work on the side. Her current client is Lucifer, who gives her a case she really can't refuse. Hunt down and kill a rogue demon whose escaped from Hell, and retrieve a certain item the rogue demon stole from hell. The rogue is someone Dante met before, a serial killer who almost killed her once, and did murder someone very close to Dante. Things don't look too bright for Dante, because she has no idea how she'll manage to kill a demon, even though Lucifer has given (without being asked) her a demon familiar of her very own to protect her until she can accomplish her mission. The rogue can't be killed by man or demon, as he won immunity from that by way of a promise from Lucifer long ago, but that doesn't cover a female necromance with a score of her own to settle. Not a romance, though there is a predictable bit where the tough and arrogant and gorgeous demon who is bonded to Dante falls for her. But even though most readers of paranormal romances could see that coming a mile a way... it's not going to end up like a romance novel. Not at all. This is a much harder, more grim, and darker storyline than most of the paranormal romance ilk. Happy endings aren't a given, and Dante isn't a gooey type of heroine girl at all. This is a woman whose patron god is Anubis, and who swears by Sekhmet, and she doesn't let her heart become a bargaining chip. This is one of those books where the unique richness of the world it's set in becomes apparent the deeper you get into the story. Dante is backed up by a great supporting cast of characters. This