(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“Hades had fallen in love with two chimeras, two monsters in disguise, incapable of feeling the way he felt, of loving the way he loved. The horror they had experienced had cut a hole in them and they would be driven in vain to fill that hole for as long as they lived. Dogs with a taste for blood, enslaved to the need.”
“But he loved them anyway. He loved them with a complete and undeniable love, the love of a father. The best he could do was try to turn their killer instincts on those other monsters out there in the night who deserved it, and in a twisted and sickening way, maybe they would be making the world safer from the same darkness they each carried. The best Hades could do was try to help them understand how to do it right so that they fed their needs… “
Heinrich “Hades” Archer is referring to Eden and Eric, who would grow up to become homicide detectives. These siblings would maintain a strange but close relationship. Then enters Frank Bennett, Eden’s new partner.
Eden and Frank are put on a case to find a serial killer; an opportunist who justifies his killing of people in order to sell their organs to the highest bidder. But Eden doesn’t see the motive as financial. As she explains to Frank, “I think it’s one of necessity. It’s a lifestyle. He just feeds the desire to get to the beginning of the ritual.”
“…It’s planned, prepared orderly. A contained experience between him and his client, him and his victim, in a makeshift operating theater. Imagine standing over the two of them with your scalpel in hand and slowly, carefully, taking life from one and giving it to another. Playing God…”
Though Frank doesn’t understand her theory, he is beginning to understand her psyche. And this is scary, but still somewhat arousing. Add to that, Frank, who is fighting his own demons, starts to fall for a potential victim.
Hades is dark, sinister and thrilling. Like Eden, the second and latest in the series, I just couldn’t put it down. I don’t think that reading them out of order diminished the enjoyment, but I would suggest that you read Hades first. At the beginning of Eden you learn what happened to certain characters in Hades, though you don’t know how they got there. The funny thing is that Hades is more about Eden, and the book Eden is more about the man, Hades. That really doesn’t matter though.
What matters is that both of these novels have been the best mystery and crime stories that I have read in years. I can’t wait for the next one!
(Don’t worry, Amazon made an error in the price…or maybe I did pay that much??)
