Nina Harper
Published by Piatkus Books
Hachette
Australia (Distributor)
2008
Reviewed: Bob Estreich
Yes, the story has a resemblance to a certain TV sitcom. Unlike the
sitcom, this spoof is very funny. Lily has a dream job as fashion editor on a
large magazine, stunning looks and a figure she can never lose, a glorious
apartment in one of the better parts of New York, and a small group of
girlfriends who are always there for her.
She is also a succubus. She is an immortal demon who has a contract with
Satan (also a woman, and a good friend of Lily’s) to deliver a quota of souls
to Hell each month. She tempts men to
her apartment for sex, and if they climax before she does they vanish in a puff
of smoke, leaving just a pile of ash. She is quite at ease with her job, since
she usually targets men who are no loss to society anyway – drunks, wife beaters, cheating husbands, and pretentious people with no fashion
sense.
The one part of Lily’s lifestyle that concerns her is that she has not
found real love for over a thousand years, and she is starting to feel a little
lonely. If a man loves her, knowing that she is a succubus, she has the option
of being released from her contract and becoming mortal again. Until that
happens, though, she has her girlfriends to fall back on. They are demons as
well and fully understand Lily’s plight. If things get too much on top of her,
ice cream with her girlfriends will usually help (after all, she doesn’t have
to worry about her figure – working for Satan has its perks).
The little group become aware that they are under surveillance, but who
is watching them? Why? Some of them well remember the Burning Men from
the old witch-hunting days, and they become alarmed in case the modern-day
crazies decide to indulge in a little more witch burning. Satan is also
concerned and She sends them a Librarian (a cat demon who is an excellent
researcher in the more arcane areas) to help them locate their watchers.
Lily meets a man she becomes seriously interested in. Could he be The
One of her dreams? Her girlfriends
advise caution, in case he is one of the witch burners, but Lily finds it
harder to take their advice as she falls in love with him. As the book cover so
eloquently puts it, “Can a sweet-talking mortal and a girl from Hell ever
really find true love?”
The story has a wonderful tongue in cheek feel that copies the style of
the (unnamed) TV sitcom, with its obsession with fashion, the Right people,
boyfriends, restaurants, etc. The characters are wonderfully drawn, not
caricatures. Even the cat demon’s personality is described just as I imagine a
cat demon would be – supercilious, demanding. Nina Harper manages to name-drop
just about every fashion label there is, and seems to be comfortable with every
fashionable eatery. She is based in New York and has a background in fashion,
and it gives the story a really credible edge. Although verging on the trivial
nature of the TV show, the book has just the right amount of drama to elevate
it to the standard of a really good mystery read, hilarious as it is. Its
lighthearted style sits on top of a good plot and some serious writing
ability. Let’s hope for a sequel.
This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2
(2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.
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