The Devil's Playground (Morgan Kingsley, #5) (Morgan Kingsley Exorcist)

by Jenna Black

Morgan Kingsley, a kick-ass exorcist, can deal with Lugh, the supersexy demon living inside her, but does he have to moan softly during her intimate moments with her mortal lover? Understandably, Brian is reluctant to share the pleasures of Morgan’s flesh with a gorgeous rogue from the Demon Realm.

But personal matters will have to wait when the opportunistic owner of the Seven Deadlies demon club in Philadelphia enlists Morgan’s help in heading off a crisis: It seems that demons have started showing up at the hot spot in alarming numbers and in the unwilling bodies of rough trade club-goers. Morgan is sure that Dougal, Lugh’s sworn enemy, is behind this, but why? To find out, Morgan must summon every ounce of power at her command—or risk becoming just another casualty in an all-out demon war.

• ISBN10: 0440244943
• ISBN13: 9780440244943
• Publish Date: 23 March 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Random House USA Inc
• Imprint: Random House Inc
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780440244943

Reviews

[Melanie]

Review originally posted at BooksOfMyHeart.net.

This is the fifth, and last book, in the Morgan Kingsley, urban fantasy series. This is a series you must read in order. Each book builds on the previous story, so you would be pretty lost if you started the series here.

If you’re not familiar with this series, which is set in Philadelphia, demons exist and possess people to walk the Mortal Plain. By human law, demons are only allowed to possess willing humans. If that demon is found to possess someone against their will or injure a human in an act of violence of any kind, they are exorcised (which humans believe kill the demon, but actually, only being burned alive in a human can kill them. Exorcism just sends them back to the Demon Plain). Morgan is one of those exorcists. She comes in when the government orders an exorcism. If she performs an exorcism without a court order, she would be up for murder.

Throughout the series, Morgan, who has never been a fan of demons, finds herself working with demons as she tries to protect Lugh, the demon king trapped on the Mortal Plain. Lugh’s brother Dugal wants to take over the throne. Morgan finds herself with many death threats throughout the series. We see how she struggles with many different things, from her relationship with her boyfriend, Brian to dealing with her estranged family.

This has been a really fun series with action, adventure, drama, and romance. I love the characters in this story. They are widely diverse in the personalities. Ms. Black really kept me on my toes with these characters. You never really knew what what going to happen next.

Now, I know I didn’t say much about The Devil’s Playground in particular. That is because I can’t say much without spoiling the entire series for you. I’ll just say that this book does wrap up the series really well, though the first time I read the series, I really hoped we would get more. If you’re looking for a gritty urban fantasy series, this is a good one. And, with only five books, it is one you can get through fairly quickly (when compared to some of those double digit series out there. I know those can be daunting, even though I love them too.)