Rating: 4 stars
Buy Links: Amazon | All Romance
Length: Novel
Greg Woodhall is happy with his life. He may complain about working a thankless job at DogOpolis and being paid pennies for his part in the chorus at the repertory theater, but in all reality he loves his job and he loves acting. Most of all he loves his partner Adrian. When mysterious sounds and moving shadows make themselves known to Greg, he doesn’t immediately tell Adrian for fear of actually being seen as crazy.
Adrian Broussard can tell something is bothering Greg, and he can tell that Greg doesn’t want to talk about it. But he can’t stand not knowing. When his family brings the Bay City Paranormal Investigators (BCPI) team to town to investigate a possible haunting at the university’s theater, Adrian finally gets Greg to tell him what’s going on. But the answers aren’t easy to come by. The lingering presence on or near Greg is not something Adrian can put a name to.
When the BCPI team is brought in to help investigate, they pick up on an evil, destructive entity none of them have seen nor felt before. When Greg discovers what the entity is, Adrian and the team face something unfamiliar and are ready to risk everything to protect Greg and those he cares for.
Demon Dog is the first in Ally Blue’s Mojo Mysteries series. This series is a spinoff of her Bay City Paranormal Investigations series. If you haven’t read the BCPI series, you don’t necessarily have to in order to read this series, although this book does have a cameo from several of the characters from that series.
I am a fan of Ally Blue and enjoy many of her work contemporary and paranormal. So, yes, I was very excited to learn of this BCPI spinoff. Adrian and Greg were both introduced in the seventh BCPI book, Love, Like Ghosts. Demon Dog picks up three years later. Greg and Adrian are leading a happy life in North Carolina when the paranormal world creeps in once again. This story is fun and as always very creative.
Ally Blue is a master of characterization. Not only does she have a way of making me love the main characters, but also the secondary cast as well. I fell in love with Adrian and Greg a long time ago when I first met them in the BCPI series. But don’t fret. Even if you are just now meeting them, there is plenty to love about Greg and Adrian – their tenacity, stubbornness, helpfulness. Greg’s huge heart. Adrian’s focus and need to save the day. They are ever growing and ever perfect for one another.
The new characters are a welcome addition to the cast. Malachi, Greg’s co-worker and friend, proves to be a great support to Greg, and I’m hoping to see him more in the future of this series. Len, Greg’s boss, turns out to be a friend to both Greg and Adrian. I expect to see her in future installments. Even Jon, the stalkerish male lead in the play who has a crush on Greg is sweet and likable once you know where he’s coming from. I’m actually hoping that Jon gets his own story someday. Theo and Chelsea are a warm addition to the cast – supportive and funny. All of the cast is great.
The story is creative and good, but a little slow at times. My biggest quibble with it is the assumption that the only readers of this series will be the readers of the BCPI series. I said earlier that you don’t necessarily have to read the first series to understand this one, and that is true. But there are subjects in this book that could use a little more clarification, namely Adrian’s powers, for new readers to completely understand. I’m not sure if they are things that I picked up because I’ve read the previous books, or whether I pieced it together from context. But there are elements that could use more clarity.
All in all Demon Dog is a good and exciting book full of mystery, intrigue, and great characters. I definitely recommend it and look forward to what this author has coming up for this series.
