Review: On Demon Wings by Karina Halle

On Demon Wings by Karina Halle
(Experiment in Terror, #5)
Genre: Horror
Format: ebook
Read: 11/14/2012 — 11/16/2012
In Six Words: Son of a bitch! THIS BOOK.

Links

Karina Halle — Website | Facebook | Twitter
Amazon — Paperback | Kindle
Add it to Goodreads

Book Order

1. Darkhouse
2. Red Fox
2.5. The Benson (GR review)
3. Dead Sky Morning
4. Lying Season
5. On Demon Wings
5.5. Old Blood
5.7. The Dex-Files
6. Into the Hollow

Why I Started Reading This Series

Dear Kelly,

Thank you for strongly encouraging me to stick with this series. I am definitely SO VERY GLAD I stuck with it. Every book just keeps getting BETTER.

Love always,
Amanda

Synopsis

When the life you wanted has crumbled beneath your fingers, there’s nothing left to do but pick up the pieces and soldier on. You’ve done this before.

But what happens when you no longer feel like yourself anymore? When fires spontaneously start-up around you, when you hear growling coming from underneath your bed, and you no longer recognize your face in the mirror. What happens then?

Ghost-hunter Perry Palomino doesn’t have much time to find out. Now, the evil she used to hunt is a lot closer to home. It’s inside of her, taking over her life bit-by-terrifying bit, and there’s only one person who can help her.

If part of her doesn’t kill him first.
-from Goodreads

Thoughts on Book 5

Son of a bitch! THIS BOOK. Perry is in a deep, dark place in On Demon Wings. After the ending of Lying Season, Perry’s mental and physical state doesn’t really come as much of a surprise. On Demon Wings shows us the ramifications and consequences of what happened in the previous book. (Yes, like seriously OhMyGlob, WhatTheFuck THE HAPPENINGS IN THIS BOOK.) I don’t think Karina Halle could have written this book more perfectly. I was enthralled. (And, if I hadn’t been in a weird cold-induced daze, I would have read this book from start to finish without stopping.)

There are certain aspects of this book that were predictable to me, as a reader but that were not so clear to Perry, as the narrator. I kind of actually liked this. It worked for the story and for Perry being where she was emotionally. It had me emailing Kelly as I progressed throughout the story and had to SAY THINGS to someone as I flailed in reaction. And it is really, really hard to say anything more without spoiling what happened in Lying Season, BUT SERIOUSLY. THIS BOOK. SO MUCH HAPPENS.

Unlike previous books, there was no filming for the Experiment in Terror show in On Demon Wings. Everything that happens in this book happens to Perry. (Poor Perry. She really can’t catch a break.) Our allegiances to certain characters change as more secrets and revelations are unveiled. Innocuous characters turned into characters I wanted to drop kick across the room. Characters who were supposed to be safe and comforting turned into enemies. Characters we loathed along with Perry turned into very missed and beloved saviors. (Okay. That last part may be a little dramatic, but it’s how I felt.)

Overall, I’m digging this series. It was a bit of a slow start for me, but the last couple of books have really picked up and blown me away. I find myself reading these back to back because I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT. (After I finish this review, I’m off to read the next two novellas because DEX! and PIPPA!) That’s a rare quality in a series for me–the need to know what happens next and to utterly immerse  myself within the series without burning out on it.