Review: To Kill a Warlock - HP Mallory

 Dulcie O'Neil, book 1

Genre: Urban fantasy/(paranormal romance)
Pages: 216 e-book
Published: July 2010
Review by Lis

The murder of a dark arts warlock. A shape-shifting, ravenous creature on the loose. A devilishly handsome stranger sent to investigate. Sometimes working law enforcement for the Netherworld is a real bitch.Dulcie O’Neil is a fairy. And not the type to frolic in gardens. She’s a Regulator—a law-enforcement agent who monitors the creatures of the Netherworld to keep them from wreaking havoc in the mortal world. When a warlock is murdered and Dulcie was the last person to see him alive, she must uncover the truth before she’s either deported back to the Netherworld, or she becomes the next victim. Enter Knight Vander, a sinfully attractive investigator sent from the Netherworld to work the case with Dulcie. Between battling her attraction to her self-appointed partner, keeping a sadomasochistic demon in check, and fending off the advances of a sexy and powerful vampire, Dulcie’s got her hands full. As the body count increases, Dulcie finds herself battling dark magic, reconnoitering in S&M clubs and suffering the greatest of all betrayals.

Yes, B. managed the snare another review out of me. This time she sent me the deliciously wicked How to Kill a Warlock by indie author H.P. Mallory. While I have to admit that the blurb did not really raise my curiosity above ‘hmmmm possibly interesting’ it was the cover that made me read this book over H.P.’s first book. I know, very shallow and wrong, but I occasionally choose books because of their cover. In my defense, it did not have a hot man on it!

About How to Kill a Warlock

On to the review. Dulcie O’Neil is a fairy with the job of Regulator, one who regulates the supernatural (not so) creepy crawlies that came out of the proverbial closet and into the real world about 50 years ago. She is not your typical kick ass (though she does kick ass) heroine. In fact when the book starts she found herself turned into very slimy, nine-eyed, put your average beer belly to shame, monster by the Warlock she was supposed to be watching. The very same Warlock that later ends up very dead. On with the investigating, in which Dulcie is aided by the very yummy Knight Vander.

This story has a multitude of (hot, male & single) characters. Her hobgoblin Regulator partner Trey (whom I liked) who is maybe not so hot. Her best friend, the Witch Sam. Then again, which best friend chases you with a butcher knife?

Then there is Dulcie’s male harem as I like to call them. Her very hot elf boss Quillan, Dulcie’s big crush and who likes Dulcie right back. Knight Vander, a Loki, with very interesting abilities. Nightclub owner Bram (the vampire) who is nothing but very vocal about his carnal interest in Dulcie. Last there is Dagan, the tattooed demon, who owns a BDSM club (yes, you read that right) and who has a sex addiction.

Both the strength and the weakness of this book is in its characters rather than the plot. The strength being that each, easy to love, character adds their own bits to the story and they make for interesting scenes. The weakness being that there are so many of them. In a way it reminded me of Laurell K. Hamilton’s books, in a good way that is. In Hamilton’s books it is not so much the story that makes the books, but the characters. Whom you come to love and crave to learn more about.

The writing is very strong, funny and witty. There are some very comical scenes in the book. However, there were some things I did not quite like. Dulcie is looking for Mr. Right and this is very important for her. Yet she has several right in front of her! Then there was the ending that would not quite end. Writing the ending of a book is hard, but this one was a tad bit too long.

The last thing has not so much to do with the story, but with the layout of the book. How to Kill a Warlock has such a beautiful cover. Why not include it in the file? In fact, the whole e-book feels like the text is copy pasted. This is a long time frustration of mine with e-publishers. They create the e-file, yet sometimes it feels like they hardly spent time on it.

How to Kill a Warlock is a good, solid, spunky read and there are so many things I could tell you about this book and what I liked about it, but my advice? Go find out for yourself! 

Lis