Personal Demon

January 21, 2008
Chaos rules in Armstrong’s complex eighth Women of the Otherworld installment (after 2007’s No Humans Involved
). The formidable Benicio Cortez once helped “tabloid-reporting, gun-toting, chaos demon spy girl” Hope Adams out of a jam, so she agrees to go undercover and join a supernatural youth gang that’s been causing problems for Cortez’s multinational corporation. Assuming the persona of bratty rich co-ed Faith Edmonds, Hope works her way into the gang, participates in heists and soon finds herself dangerously attracted to one of the other members, cute Jasper “Jaz” Haig. All too soon, Jaz’s diabolical plans lead to a shocking tragedy. Armstrong excels in depicting Hope’s transformations, but new readers might want to read earlier books to get context for all the mayhem.

Starred review from April 7, 2008
United in their obsession with a grisly Italian serial murder case almost three decades old, thriller writer Preston (coauthor, Brimstone
) and Italian crime reporter Spezi seek to uncover the identity of a vicious serial killer in this chilling true crime saga. The murders took place outside of Florence where Preston had moved with his family. From 1974 to 1985, seven pairs of lovers parked in their cars in secluded areas were brutally killed. With all of the chief suspects acquitted or released from prison on appeal, the authors began to snoop around, although witnesses had died and evidence was missing. Preston and Spezi's sleuthing continued until ruthless prosecutors turned on the nosy pair, jailing Spezi and grilling Preston for obstructing justice. Only when Dateline NBC
became involved in the maze of mutilated bodies and police miscues was the authors' hard work rewarded. This suspenseful procedural reveals much about the dogged writing team as well as the motives of the killers. Better than some overheated noir mysteries, this bit of real-life Florence bloodletting makes you sweat and think, and presses relentlessly on the nerves.