Succubus Takes Manhattan (book 2) by Nina Harper (book review).

‘Succubus Takes Manhattan’ is the sequel to ‘Succubus In The City’ and follows immediately the events therein.

Lily the eponymous succubus is trying to heal after repeated attacks from The Burning Men religious extremists. With her close circle of friends and their selection of demonic allies, they now have to work out who in Hell is feeding information to their human attackers.

This has now got the attention of Mephistopheles, who is Satan’s most trusted second-in-command, because he seems to be the ultimate target. This is bad news for the whole organisation because the only individuals in a position to attack him are also trusted by Satan and seemingly beyond suspicion. Lily and Meph seek help in the form of Lily’s two latest surviving human lovers. Marten the magician is well-known to Meph and brings passion and accountancy skills to the team. Nathan is a young human private investigator with an unusual talent for prehistoric languages. Both bring their skills to bear in running down The Burning Men. This proximity to her ex-lovers means extra pressure on Lily’s fragile nerves.

If all of the above wasn’t enough her supervising editor, Lawrence, is having constant diva style explosions. This makes for a nightmare work environment.

Lily has to work out which problems are part of the bigger demonic attacks and which are just her normal convoluted existence.

This book has the difficult job of being the second in a trilogy. The clear writing style of the first book continues here and the story rattles along at a brisk pace. The same celebration of the New York fashion world wends its incomprehensible way along as well. I am sure there is a huge potential fan base for this but it isn’t me.

The fundamental issue with the book that not much of the central story is resolved. The nice take on the supernatural and demonic New York is carried over from the first book. The characters are all well imagined and written.

The first book’s events are explained neatly in the first chapter so it is possible to read this book without the initial instalment. The big question is why would you want to? The build-up is so nicely handled in the first book and is maintained here rather than built upon or resolved.

Fans of the supernatural fantasy genre would do well to read both books in order. I had yet to read the third and final book, ‘Succubus Takes New York’, so I am left in a state of limbo. I get the feeling that perhaps splitting the stories into two books might have been a better option than three.

Overall, I am slightly let down after my enjoyment of the first novel.

Andy Bollan

March 2014

(pub: Del Rey/Ballantine Books. 392 paperback. Price: $ 6.99 (US), $ 8.99 (CAN). ISBN: 978-0-345-49507-5)

check out website: www.delreydigital.com