Take a 50’s monster movie, move it into the present day and add a bunch of gizmos and guns and you’ve got the basics for Daemon.

Jeff Lehane is a retired black ops specialist perfectly content to live the rest of his life away from most people. When he is asked to help guard a rap star he initially refuses but is lured back in once he learns his ex-wife is running the show. After she is killed during an assassination attempt he makes it his business to find her killer, especially once he learns something has broken into the morgue to chew up her body. The story then follows Lehane and his team as they learn that this isn’t a typical hit but something far more otherworldly and evil.

I’ve read quite a few Harry Shannon stories and one thing he does really well is the flawed hero. Harry manages to make guys with honor, brains, and ass kicking ability without writing the same character over and over or so goody-goody Gary Stuish you want something large and pointy to fall on them.

This book is chock-full of blood, fluids, bone, and anything else a body can possibly produce and lose spectacularly. If you think that’s something that might bother you then keep walking. If you have no problems with that and like a chilling horror/mystery with a special forces bent then I think you’ll really enjoy this book.

My only real complaint was a desire for the story to be fleshed out more (no pun intended.) Sometimes it felt like there was history I wasn’t privy to. Also the ending was abrupt but then that fits in with the 50’s monster movie style.

This book was released as a signed limited hardcover under the title Night of the Daemon in 2005. The initial run consisted of 174 numbered copies and 26 deluxe lettered copies. It was the third book in Harry’s “Night” trilogy; the other two being Night of the Beast and Night of the Werewolf. You don’t need to read the other two to enjoy this one, they share themes, not sequences. Daemon is due to be released this month in paperback format.