5 Star #Review - The Demon Trapper's Daughter (A Demon Trappers Novel) by Jana Oliver #YA Grades 9+

The life of a demon trapper is a hard one – and, all too often, one cut far too short. Riley Blackthorne, the daughter of renowned demon trapper Paul Blackthorne, learns that for herself when her father is killed by a Grade Five Geo-Fiend.

Her mother died of cancer not long before, and Riley decided to follow her father’s footsteps to bring in some much-needed income. Trying to become a demon trapper in an occupation where females are unheard of is a challenge, especially since she’s attending school three nights a week, but with jobs a scarce commodity, she has little choice. She also discovers that her biggest challenge might not be trapping demons, but keeping necromancers from stealing her father’s body and reanimating it to be used as a slave by rich people.

The Demon Trapper's Daughter is an excellent, fast-paced, action-packed and sometimes poignant novel, the first in Jana Oliver’s “Demon Trappers” series. Atlanta, Georgia, in the not-too-distant future (or an alternate version of our universe) is an Atlanta not many people today would easily recognize. Some well-known buildings and highways remain, but much of the city is in a shambles. Traffic lights have been stolen by scavengers who sell the metal. Ragged people stand in long lines at soup kitchens. Bats live in the Tabernacle’s eaves. Coyotes roam the streets in packs, “looking for a stray meal to wander their way.”

Read the Complete Review by Douglas R. Cobb/2011 for curled up with a good kid's book