Review: DEVIL'S DESCENT I: PURGATORY

DEVIL'S DESCENT I: PURGATORY

by Claudia D. Christian

Format: eBook

Length: 46,133 words

Published: July 2010

Julian Douglas exists solely for the night he finds his human pet Lily.  Lily Walker exists solely for the night she finds peace from the nightmare that is Julian Douglas.  Julian finds Lily.  Lily suffers Julian.  In the end, who finds freedom?  The master who is a slave to his pet?  Or the pet who never wanted to run away from her master?

My Thoughts: Julian and Lily's grim love story was a painful one to witness, but that was the point.  This book is meant for angst-junkies who crave characters full of pain, self-loathing and despair, and characters who thrive on relationships where the line between love and hate is blurred.

  

Devil's Descent I: purgatory (A Dark Love Series) feels like the middle of Julian and Lily's tale, which seems accurate given the name of the book.  Isn't purgatory a middle ground, one trapped between a beginning and an end?  We're told that Lily was at one time the Resurrector for a very unique place called Vickery Hill.  Julian, a pureblood vampire, was one of the town's residents.  Lily and Julian were lovers until something violent and horrible happened to change everything (this event still remains a mystery), and Lily flees from Julian.

Two years later, Julian has tracked her down in Montreal, no longer a Resurrector, but just a mortal woman.  We get to see first hand Julian's sociopathic behavior as he tries to claim his living doll for his own once again.  And Lily is as twisted as he is, because she craves the pain he gives her.  I enjoy angst-filled characters who take me on an emotional roller coaster, and Julian and Lily fit the bill perfectly.  I hated them and loved them as the same time.

The whole book has an erotic feel to it minus any traditional romance, with a bit of a twisted Master/pet element.  I've said before that I would describe the author's work as erotic horror.  Parts of the story were a bit hard to follow because not much back story was given about what happened in Vickery Hill.  A few secondary characters were mentioned that I assume were part of their previous life, but details about them were fuzzy.  Devil's Descent II: impure (A Dark Love Series) was recently released, and the blurb sounds like the prequel to book one.  I'm hoping it will reveal some answers...like who exactly is Ian?

Review copy courtesy of the author.