(Original review Feb 2007)Overallt3/5Story 3/5tRe-Readability 3/5Characters 2/5Imagine if Buffy the Vampire Slayer retired, settled down, married, had kids, and became a soccer mom — then was suddenly faced with a resurgence of demonic activity in Sunnydale, and had to fight the baddies while throwing dinner parties for her husband, getting the kids to school, and keeping it all a secret? Well, you don’t have to imagine very hard, because Kenner basically lightly files off the Buffy serial numbers to present just that scenario. Instead of Slayers we have Hunters; instead of Watchers, we have the Vatican’s Forza; but it’s all pretty much there.How does it work? Um … okay.Story: Just as Kate Connor thinks her suburban life can’t get any more complicated — her husband’s running for DA, she’s juggling a teenaged daughter from her first marriage and a toddler from her current one — a demon comes crashing through patio door, signaling her safe little domestic life is being invaded by her secret past as a Demon Hunter. Out of shape, out of touch, and so not wanting to go through that life again, especially with a husband and kids, what’s she going todo? Especially when she becomes suspicious that someone very close to her is in service to the same High Demon that’s orchestrating the reinvasion of the town?To call this book fluff is, to some degree, to denegrate fluff. It neither fully succeeds as a horror/action/adventure novel nor as a study of the harried domestic suburban housewife’s lot. The plot meanders, key points get telegraphed, things seem to happen more for the sake of complicating matters than because they make sense, coincidences abound, and the whole thing ends up as a clear setup for future books (of which at least one has come out in hardcover, a second lined up for June).That said, it’s not bad, just mediocre. As someone who’s got an active child growing up for whom we try to balance our work lives and her activities, too, a lot of it rings true — or at least truish. There’s a decent mythos here, too. In more polished hands — heck, let’s just say Joss Whedon — this could be hip, edgy, entertainment. As it is, it’s a bit … pedestrian. Except that’s too strong an opinion, because there’s nothing here to actually provoke a strong opinion.The standard question — the artificial bit that makes life for Kate a lot more complex than it needs to be — is why she doesn’t tell her husband (and daughter) what’s going on. The former’s already had to face some of the secrets, and if there’s a reason Kate doesn’t confide in her husband part of the time, that’s pretty much wrapped by the end of the book. One has the sense the secret must be kept simply because sharing it would uncomplicate the story too much. Which is weak (if stereotyped) plotting.Characters: The harried housewife. Her supportive but clueless best friend. The mildly rebellious teenaged girl. The sweet but demanding toddler. The loving if distracted husband. There you go. Oh, yeah, there are a few other players, but you could probably write their dialog, too.Re-Readability: Maybe. The book doesn’t depend on too much stuff that, once read, is spoiled. I might go back to it, especially when the next one comes out.Overall: Cast in the best light, this is light-weight entertainment with some promise, but weakened by chick-lit fluffiness, less interested in some ways in writing a taut suspenseful modern-day action-horror novel than the mildly humorous travails of a put-upon housewife. I’m willing to pick up the next installment when it comes out, and won’t feel guilty about loaning out this one, but have still preferred something a bit more like Buffy in tone, if it was going to be likeit in settting.
The Book Report: Retired demon hunter, remarried widow, and mother of a teen and a toddler Kate Conner is forced out of her 'burbsy life by The Call of Duty: San Diablo, her hitherto peaceful adopted hometown, has attracted the attention of major baddie demon Goramesh, who wants something that he can't get because it's hidden within the sacred ground of the town's amazingly well-protected cathedral. Goramesh has targeted Our Heroine because she, as a Hunter, must be neutralized, thinks Kate's Vatican handler. She is sent a new handler, whose arrival in her home coincides with a demon attack and a cocktail party in aid of her new husband's political ambitions...and the handler happens to be showing signs of demonhood hisownself....Hijinks ensue, Good (or Catholicism, anyway) triumphs over Evil, and middle-aged mama Kate unretires because, as TV has taught us, once a target for demons, always a target for demons.My Review: Many points off for homophobia p15, "...realized {her son} had been completely mesmerized by four gyrating Australian men. If he were fifteen, I'd worry. At twenty-five months, I figured we were okay." That might be funny to the author's straight-mommy readership, but it shouldn't be. Having a gay son is grounds to worry? Really? And why is that, exactly?Many points off for assuming the world is Catholic in multiple places around the text. Many points off for out-and-out lifting the structure of her demon-world and its fighters from "Buffy the Vampire Slayer." And lastly, a minor deduction for the main character's use and abuse of a long-suffering, and I do mean suffering, best friend. Why that lady puts up with this self-involved fool is beyond me.I started this book with very high hopes. I lost most of them on p15, as mentioned above. Then it was down to "finish or abandon?" debate...the only reason I review the book is that, in the end, I did finish it, and the ending was reasonably not-sucky. Go ahead and read it if you're an insensitive straight-supremacist man-hater. You'll laugh your socks off.
What do You think about Carpe Demon (2006)?
Imagine Buffy the Vampire Slayer grew up and got out of the stalking-and-staking game. She met a nice guy, settled down in suburbia and had a couple of kids. And then one day, the former-slayer-turned-soccer-mom spots a demon in her home-town Walmart.That's the premise posed by Carpe Demon, the first of Julie Kenner's Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom series. To avoid copyright infringement, Kenner's heroine, Kate Connor, is a Hunter, NOT a Slayer and her advisor/mentor is her Alimentore, not her Watcher, but you get the drift. The similarities are pretty strong.The book is hysterical. I could go into details about the plot and the character development, but that's the most important thing to note. It's a lighter foray into a genre that's often dark and broody, and a welcome change. There are scenes in Carpe Demon that are laugh-out-loud funny -- like when Kate, rusty from years of driving carpool and in need of weapons training, improvises by fencing with Swisher mop handles in her backyard. The heroine deals with issues all working moms deal with, trying to juggle home and work life -- although her work life is a bit more demanding, what with the demons crashing through her kitchen window and all. Nonetheless, I think most women will relate to this character -- and like her. She's got both a toddler and a teenager, so moms at both ends of the parenting spectrum can shake their heads and laugh. Its a quick, fun read, and I look forward to getting my hands on the next book, California Demon, soon.
—Erin
There is nothing better than a romantic comedy that incorporates the paranormal, and Julie Kenner has penned a jackpot winner with CARPE DEMON. At times laugh-out-loud funny, once I started reading this book I couldn't put it down until I finished the last page-and then I wished it wasn't the end. Kate Connor, on the surface, appears to be a pretty normal suburban mom. Mother to fourteen-year-old Alison and two-year-old Timmy, wife of Stuart, an assistant county attorney, and all-around chauffeur, nanny, housekeeper, and family pep squad rolled into one. It wasn't always that way, though. Kate was once a Level Four Demon Hunter, although no one knows it. It's the secret of secrets, and for the most part, Kate's pretty happy keeping it that way. Until one day, while shopping with the kids at the local Wal-Mart in San Diablo , California , she spots a demon. Immediately, all sorts of questions are raised. Why would a demon willingly come to San Diablo? And, in fact, was it a demon at all? And does it have anything at all to do with her? Sadly, Kate realizes way too soon that she's going to be forced out of demon-hunting retirement. Incorporeal demon Goramesh has come to California with one goal in mind, and it's up to Kate to figure out what he wants, find it before he does, rescue it, and send Goramesh back where he belongs. Sounds easy, right? Not really, especially when you can't tell anyone what you're doing, including your husband, best friend, or children. Balancing home life has always been tricky enough, but now that there are murderous demons following her around, dodging her every step, life has become even more complicated. I've heard that some readers have compared this story to a sort of Buffy the Vampire Slayer read, but I didn't get that feeling at all. What I read was a hilarious story of a stay-at-home-mom whose past comes back to bite her on the butt, with the risks being even higher than ever. For anyone who has ever been bored with their life, or has secrets from the past that they just wish would stay there, this book is for you. Not to mention that it's just an all-around enjoyable story from a very talented author. Pick up a copy of CARPE DEMON today-you won't be disappointed.
—Jennifer Wardrip
This book wasn't terrible but it was definitely overhyped. It's not "Buffy as a soccer mom" - it's nowhere near that funny. It is readable, but I think she goes more into detail about kiddie play dates than demon fighting. There were two things I found problematic, so I downgraded it from 3 stars to 2. 1. Everyone in the book is white, cis, and straight. Sadly, this is a little in keeping with Whedon's show, but I still found it troublesome.2. The main character makes 2 homophobic comments. One is an inner dialogue as her toddler is transfixed by some men dancing on tv and she thinks how if he were 10 years older, this would be a problem. The other is when she tells her son he will never be allowed to wear makeup like his big sister. Since the comments are inner dialogue and to a toddler, no one is there to call her on them. I will say that there's a reveal at the end that surprised me, and I thought Kate found an inventive way out of it.
—Alexa Reed
