Christian has repaid the Catholic church for their protection with his work as an Executioner, a killing machine charged with the extermination of supernatural threats to humanity. Vampires, werewolves, ghouls, Christian can handle it all. But when the church sends him to destroy a succubus, he quickly discovers that he’s over his head. Nothing about Lilith, his target, adds up. Succubi aren’t supposed to be afraid of men, yet Lilith is terrified. Supernatural beings aren’t supposed to be captivated by her either, yet Christian must fight them off. Can Christian figure out what’s going on and get the job done, or will this be his last mission from God?
The mystery that drives this plot had me curious from the start and held me until the end. It’s nearly impossible to take a simple creature, like a succubus, turn it on its head, and not grab the reader’s attention. Varnell does a great job revealing this world’s secrets bit by bit, laying a trail of clues that you can’t help but follow and enjoy, at least a little bit.
Unfortunately, Varnell’s obsession with anime bleeds through the rest of the book, making anything outside the central plot awkward, annoying, or dull unless you share his passion.
From the very first chapter, it was obvious that Varnell was trying to narrate a manga or anime rather than write a novel. The action is over-ornamented and drags on, which works well for a visual medium, but not so much for a written one, Christian is every bad-ass hero with a heart of gold and a tragic past, and Lilith is every cookie-cutter cutesy heroine from the last twenty-ish years of anime. She even yells, “Kya!” on occasion, which grated on my nerves a bit. These tropes have been overused enough in actual anime and manga. We really don’t need novel versions.
In conclusion, if you’re into anime or if you’re at all nostalgic for it, you might enjoy this. If the phenomenon is foreign to you or you’ve had your fill of it, there are better urban fantasy titles out there. Maybe check those out first.