Tainted

September 29, 2009
Known for light fantasy, Kenner ("Carpe Demon") takes a darker turn in this unremarkable addition to the legions of demon-huntress urban fantasy series. After Lily Carlyle dies while trying to kill her sister's stalker, an angel offers her another shot at life. Lily awakens in the body of Alice Purdue, a young waitress whose generically happy life rings false when Lily begins training to assassinate demons, but no one will tell Lily what really happened to the original Alice. Further confusing things is the clichéd mysteriously sexy Deacon Camphire, a man who saves her life but whose touch fills her with visions of horrifying darkness and incomprehensible lust. As her supernatural abilities grow, Lily finds herself becoming more like the monsters she hunts. A few twists to Lily's angst and the requisite world-saving prophecy make this otherwise middling story worthwhile. "(Nov.)" .