This Carnivale Diabolique allows Pandora and her family to blend in and feed their inner demons. Nephilims, they are each possessed by a demon which has to be fed, but they are not all the way bad. Pandora hosts the demon of Lust and she enthrall men by transforming into their desires and feeding off of them.
But when Pandora lusts and tags a mysterious man, her life will take an unexpected turn when she realises she fell into the trap of a hunter, a Priest, reaper of Nephilim and she is his pray. They play a dangerous game around each other while other darker forces lurk around, threatening the balance of their worlds. She and her family are bound to the defenders of light to fight against darker creatures while maintaining the balance by feeding only on those who deserved it, acting as punisher. She is sent on a mission to uncover a vampire lair and find whatever information she can, but there are dangers at every step and she can certainly be killed.
This is a dark and hot novel, filled with mystery, lust and red herrings. The world in which the novel takes place was well-built and I could actually visualise the places and have a good grasp on their factions and abilities and what they could and couldn’t do. The story takes off slowly, taking time to build up which for me is quite of a let-down, but I knew I was unto something that was actually good so I held my impatience.
Character wise, I thought they were a bit too flat for my liking. Pandora thinks constantly of sex because of her demon, but I feel like I actually don’t know her in other aspects. She tried to conserve as much of humanity as she can, but I have no idea of her goals and aspirations, is a bit too dull and erotically centred. The Priest, Billy, is just a thorn in her back and we, again, know nothing about him as they don’t have a proper, serious conversation. We do know he is über hot and makes Dora wet constantly, that we know. The other characters suffer of the same problem, but I do remember Bubba with his weird appetite and The Gray Man, who we know nothing about, but he is the most fascinating character in the whole book and I want to know more of what he is.
The writer really tried to make them be the good guys by hooking them up with the good guys, but somehow felt a bit too forced. I can say that personally, I was in love with the idea of Vampires as bad guys! Finally a book in which they don’t sparkle and silly girls don’t go chasing after them in forests. Such a breath of fresh air! In this book they are truly evil and they are portrayed in such and un-cool way that I almost felt like hugging the writer.
The ending did justice to the book and left me begging for more. It all unravels so nicely and I was surprised that I couldn’t actually figure who was the actual foe in the whole story. The Gray Man appears again and opens a chest full of questions and intrigue and Pandora gets a new assignment and I have a feeling the thing will get hotter in the second book.
Marie Hall does a fairly good job overall and I must say that I was excited to finally find in my random reads such a pleasant read. The story is hot, sassy and packed with action and even if it has its faults, recovers on other fronts so I can truly recommend this book for lovers of the genre.
PS: You can follow Marie Hall on Twitter at: @mariehallwrites and follow her blog here!
Jane Kelsey 
Nice. 🙂 And yes, vampires and werewolves are always bad.
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