Deadly Descendant (Nikki Glass, #2)

by Jenna Black

"As a living descendant or Artemis the Huntress, private investigator Nikki Glass knows how to track someone down. But when an Oracle shows up, warning the Descendants about wild dog attacks in Washington, D.C., Nikki is afraid it might be a trap. The Olympians believe the "dogs" are really jackals, controlled by blood-crazed descendant of the Egyptian death-god Anubis. Whatever ... If Nikki hopes to muzzle Dogboy she's got to catch him in the act. But when she stakes out a local cemetery, she ends up face-to-snout with a snarling pack of shadow-jackals whose bite is worse than their bark. These hellhounds are deadly--even for an immortal like Nikki. "Dog" spelled backward may be "god" but that won't stop Nikki from teaching these old gods some new tricks. Like playing dead."

• ISBN10: 145160680X
• ISBN13: 9781451606805
• Publish Date: 24 April 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Simon & Schuster
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

Another great book in the Nikki series. The first one is slightly better but only by a little bit. This book picks off about a few weeks after the first book ended.

In this one, we see a little more of how some of the other descendant powers work. We get a little bit of back story from a few others as well. I can't wait to learn more in future books, I'm fascinated by how they came to be as well as their powers. The one I'm most excited and hope to learn more about in future books is Anderson, he's the most intriguing one.

I love the interactions between him and Nikki the best. And I can't wait to see what kind of dynamic they build between them in future books. I think Anderson does care for her and doesn't wish her harm. I love reading the parts where they interact.

Nikki is trying to learn how to use her powers, but it's not easy since she doesn't have anybody around to teach her. There is no guide book for any of the descendants, some have it easier than others. Which reminds me of Jamaal, we see him in this book trying to some kind of reign on his powers, since Emmett is now gone. Him and Nikki how quite a few interactions in this one and I don't want to spoil anything, but I can guess where the author is going to go with those two. We learn some of Jamaal's backstory and why he is the way he is. But that doesn't excuse some of his behavior.

Nikki is still her strong self and tries to make the best logical decision she can. Even when backed into a corner by certain circumstances. I can't wait to her grow into her powers and what happens to her next. The only person she does seem to back down from is Jamaal and I think that has to do with her attraction to him. I hope in the future book she learns to stand her ground more.

I really enjoyed this book and I'm going to go and read the next one now. I want to see how things play out.

I would recommend this series to anything who would like to read a non-young adult book about descendants of gods. It's in a darker and more realistic setting.

[Melanie]

Review originally posted at RabidReads.com.

This is the second book in the Nikki Glass series. Nikki is starting to get a handle on new powers. Not completely, but she has come to terms with her new life. Though, she isn’t completely ready to give up her old life. She still has her old condo. She wants to keep her PI business, though that is getting harder and harder.

The Olympians have come to Anderson because they are aware of a descendant that is killing people using a group of dogs. They need Nikki’s special power to help track this guy down. Being that this guy is a descendant of Anubis, the problem is how to kill him. Evidently, his seed is cursed and causes everyone who takes it in to go crazy, which is why the Olympians didn’t want to soil one of their Greek descendants with this seed. Problem is now, they have it in a death god descendant. They are hard to contain, which is something we learned in the first book with Jamaal, who can walk through walls. The question is what to do with him after he is caught.

This is another great addition to the series. Nikki does her PI thing while learning a lot more about her powers. We learn more about the Olympians and even meet their oracle. The part of the story that I enjoyed the most, was learn more about Jamaal. There is a lot that he hasn’t shared with Anderson’s people that he shares with Nikki. Like the fact that he is much older than he lets on. Like the fact that he was a slave, which is why no one ever sees him without a shirt, lots of whip marks. I loved seeing this softer side of Jamaal. I really enjoyed seeing their romance grow, though it is still at a snail’s pace.

This series is such a fun series with such a unique premise of the descendants of gods that are mostly immortal. The characters are wonderfully developed and the best part of the story, in my personal opinion. There is also some politics that are at play and some shades of gray on who are the good guys and who are the bad guys. The suspense as Nikki tries to track down the bad guy, not to mention the tension between her and Anderson’s crazy wife adds to the story. If you haven’t tried this exciting Urban Fantasy series, I highly recommend it. I believe that the fourth and final book will out in May, though I don’t know if it will be available on audio. I would love it if it were.

Narration
Sophie Eastlake did another phenomenal job with the narration of this book. If you never listened to Ms. Eastlake, I highly recommend her narrations. She does a great job with her pacing and tone. Her range of voices for both male and females are wonderful. She is able to make Anderson sound as menacing as he should, while still being one of the “good guys”. She also does a great job with crazy Emma. I think it takes talent to voice a crazy person and she seems to do it with easy.