"Jewel of a tale"

The demons of Orcus believe they have found the elixir to enable them to penetrate the barrier between their underground abyss and the human city above. They need to obtain the blood of Crimson City police officer Claudia Donovan. To lure Claudia into their realm is relatively easy; the demons arrange the kidnapping of Claudia's daughter Holly so that she can serve as bait.

Claudia soon realizes that she will probably die in Orcus and has little chance of rescuing her daughter who probably is dead. Her only hope to escape rests with the dangerously appealing vampire Tiberiu Korzha, who is in the underground on a quest. Surprisingly he agrees to help the single mother at the same time that Lath the demon claims Claudia as his life mate.

The Crimson City saga has produced three previous great tales with each enhancing the realm set forth from the previous tale. However, the fourth novel, A DARKER CRIMSON, is the best jewel yet as the problems between humans, demons, vampires, and werewolves, etc. explodes into the open. The key cast members insure vampires, demons, and those humans living along side these paranormal creatures seem real so that fans receive a terrific thriller that sets quite a high bar for the next story to achieve.

Harriet Klausner

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted October 25, 2005

Never trust a vamp. Words to live by for Officer Claudia Donovan of the Los Angeles Police Department. But when she ends up in the demon world, her daughter's life, and hers, depend on her doing just that.

Summary

Long ago, the portal was sealed, and Los Angeles—now Crimson City—rid itself of demons for eternity. Or so Claudia Donovan believed. With the city's other paranormals more active than ever, and the treaty between humans, vampires and werewolves all but dissovled, she and the rest of the CCPD had enough to handle.

But now her daughter has been kidnapped and she's learned that demons still exist—and that they are plotting. SHe herself is caught in a dark ritual and must go to the creatures' shadowy world. To whom can she turn for help? The vampire Tiberiu Korzha whose eyes promise death but whose lips taste of eternity? Or does salvation lie with the powerful Lath, he who inspires lust beyond name?

Other books in the series:
Crimson City by Liz Maverick - July 05
A Taste of Crimson by Marjorie M. Liu - August 05
Through a Crimson Veil by Patti O'Shea - October 05
Seduced by Crimson by Jade Lee - March 06
Crimson Rogue by Liz Maverick - Apr 06