I said it before, and I'll say it again: This is how John Constantine: Hellblazer should have been Americanize -- assuming it was necessary to Americanize Hellblazer in the first place. DC isn't paying me to argue in favor of doing so, so I won't bother.

The second Engelbrecht outing feels shorter than the first, but we already know Nick and his circle, so author K. H. Koehler doesn't have to spend as many words on foreplay. An old god returns with the aid of the leaders of an Amish community, and Nick learns some things about himself he would have preferred not to -- not that his father gives a damn. ( )

Nick’s tumultuous relationship with Vivian continues, much to Morgana’s disapproval – and seems to be getting serious. Especially after a mysterious, magical death in Nick’s arms leads him to investigate and gives Vivian the chance to have an almost-honeymoon for them.

But Nick doesn’t have much time for relaxing or partying when he follows the investigation – finding a vulnerable Amish community suffering a truly horrific predation at the hands of a terrible and powerful force. So desperate are they that they’re willing to accept help from him, Nick Englebert, Lucifer’s son and the next Lucifer.

As he investigates and battles the darkness, his own power flows; his father making frequent appearances to urge him towards ascension and one day stepping into his shoes.

I said before that this series is original and that is really well continued into this book. The nature of demons, the retiring Lucifer, exactly who and what Nick is coupled with the old gods, angel eaters, angry angels and an empty Throne all combine to create a really fascinating world with multiple angles and agendas. The idea of humans that ascend to become demons, Lucifer poking his son to do just that, is an excellently maintained one – especially with the very nature of Nick being developed so much more: what it means when people stick holy symbols in their faces and start chanting exorcisms, or their magic improving if people worshipping them – or Nick performing exorcisms simply by demanding demons leave because he’s the boss.

I love the idea of Angels being more than a little lost and aggressive with an empty throne – and I love that there’s been some real research into the nature of angels and not just presented as people with wings (which, if you read the original sources, is pretty divorced from the weird, wonderful and outright alien descriptions of many angels).

The angel eaters – those who eat angelic flesh and seek ascension to the empty throne are also a really good concept. I am torn as to whether they were necessary in this book, we had them in the last book and it was almost a distraction – but I think they maintain the ongoing meta as well as underscoring that just because there’s one thing going on in the world doesn’t mean there aren’t other things going on as well. I like the idea that the world doesn’t neatly line up one problem at a time or that everything else stops while you juggle something else.

I keep rambling on about the world – in fact if this review is disjointed it’s because every time I start writing I leap back up to the world building part to add another element that really appealed to me. But the story is really strong as well- we have Lucifer constantly poking his head in to try and get Nick to follow in his footsteps while Nick is moved to help an Amish community bedevilled by, well, deviltry, out of sheer compassion (I like that the demon is moved by compassion). Of course, when examining that evil we have twist after twist after twist, we have big guns that don’t work as well as expected, cocky demons learning that they’re not all that and the last people we expected turning out to be the big bad, interwoven with Nick’s complicated relationship with Vivian and the other people he invites to his bed.

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Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy (Fairly dark)
Reading Level: Adult
Recommended for: fans of darker urban fantasy, the first book
Trigger Warnings: rape of young girls, threats of rape, killing, murder

My Thoughts: A year has passed since the events of the first book, when things go crazy for Nick again. When a young man dies in Nick's shop, and Nick suspects he is Amish, Nick and Vivian travel to the nearest Amish community—Zion—and search for answers. What they find... is way more than they expected.
“I realized then that my life had reached a new low. The Devil was sitting with me in a haunted grove, and I was sighing with relief, thankful that it wasn't something really scary.”
The cool thing about the Devil in these books is that he is really quite charming. Nick is also quite charming, and is just a person most of the time. There are some interesting theological thoughts in this book, such as the idea that Yahweh defeated all the Old Ones and took over Earth from them, and redecorated, basically, and also the idea that the Devil was made exactly the way he was supposed to, to serve a vital function.

I love the character development in these books. While they are all in first person, Nick is a trained observer, and he notices things about the other characters that allow us a glimpse into their lives. I just loved several of the Amish characters. This is not a typical Amish community, by the way; the Ordnung has some rather shocking differences from a normal community of the Plain Folk.

I really like this series. I also hope desperately that there will be more books, since there are a couple threads that still need to be tied up. There is no word as to if or when there will be more books, but I'll be watching. I really like this author's style, and she has several other books out, so I plan to go through and add more of her stuff to my collection. If you like darker urban fantasy with some fascinating theological ideas, then definitely check these books out.

Series Information: Nick Englebrecht series
Book 1: The Devil You Know, review linked here
Book 2: The Devil Dances
See also: The Devil's Companion: A Guide to Nick Englebrecht's World for more information about the Nick Englebrecht universe. Includes glossary, playlist, sample chapters from the books, full-color illustrations and more.

Disclosure: I received an e-galley from Curiosity Quills via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis: “You want to know something about me? Something important? When I was a kid, I used to read a lot of comics. I watched all the TV shows. Hell, I wanted to be a superhero. Then one day I grew up, and I learned I wasn’t the Lone Ranger. I’m not Spider-Man or Captain-Fucking-Marvel. I’m not a good man, and I never will be. My name is Nicholas Englebrecht and I’m the heir to hell. I’m the Angel-breaker. I’m the goddamn son of the fucking devil and you should know that if you piss me off, things are going to go very bad for you…”

Nick Englebrecht is lured to a strange, isolated Amish colony by the mysterious death of a nameless young man. It’s supposed to be a simple enough investigation. Find the kid’s family. Find out what happened to him. But when you’re the devil’s kid, with angels and demons gunning for you at every turn, things have a habit of turning bad fast. Before Nick knows it, he’s up to his ass in bodies, femme fatales, and ancient, bloodthirsty gods with a taste for human flesh. ( )