Demon Bound

by Caitlin Kittredge

Thirteen years ago, Jack Winter lay dying in a graveyard. Jack called upon a demon and traded his soul for his life... and now the demon is back to collect its due. But Jack has finally found something to live for. Her name is Pete Caldecott, and because of her, Jack's not going to Hell without a fight. Pete doesn't know about Jack's bargain, but she does know that something bigger and far more dangerous than Jack's demon is growing in the Black...

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312943636
• ISBN13: 9780312943639
• Release Date: December 2009
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 346 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 4.1" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

This series works on a number of levels

First, there is a very solid thriller in Demon Bound that is well conceived and cleverly executed. The series of events that Kittredge constructs to both move the story out of London and also move the larger arc along are credible and compelling. Many of the clues she fed us in Street Magic come together as we see Demon Bound unfold in Jack's voice. The second level on which this series is working well is on character development. Jack Winter is a character that an author could easily succumb to writing in genre cliché's about the manchild lost to his personal demons (both figurative and literal) but who strives for salvation after finding a good woman. Kittredge takes a different approach, there are no platitudes about being a better man or overcoming his past, instead she shows us a man who is hanging on by a thread. He's both hero and anti-hero and there are no easy answers to anything about Jack or his situation. The relationship between Pete and Jack isn't easy to define either. Both Pete and Jack are damaged, and I don't know that they'll ever really be fixed; there are some things a person never really gets over but I think they can move on and that is where this connection between Pete and Jack really strikes home. They don't precisely help each other recover so much as they find a natural bond and they fit together. The evolution of their relationship is subtle but utterly convincing and wholly compelling. The third level on which this series is working well is in the development of larger arc. The stakes have been raised both for the characters and also for the world in which they live. Kittredge accomplishes this in the second book, which is something most authors do not achieve in a series until the third book. This is series has the potential to be epic for the characters and thier world. My only disappointment is that I didn't discover Black London later after more books had been published in the series. If I could preorder the third book, I would do so right now. This series is solid and I can't wait to see what happens next.

A worthy successor

This is the second in the Black London series. 'Demon Bound' develops the relationship between rogue urban mage and sometime heroin junkie Jack Winter and his nemesis and lover, Detective Inspector 'Pete' Caldicott. Whereas 'Street Magic' came in the main from Pete's point of view, this second book is written more from Jack's perspective, and the reader finally discovers exactly what did happen thirteen years ago to allow Jack to cheat death. However, old debts are now coming due ... 'Demon Bound' fully lives up to the standards imposed by the first book, 'Street Magic'. There is clear and credible character development, and the growing and deepening of Jack's old bond with Pete is also realistic and believable -- thankfully, as it would be a crime to waste two such strikingly original and intriguing characters. In my review of 'Street Magic' I commented on the drawback of the characters' imperfect 'Britspeak' - the most jarring incongruities have mostly been ironed out of their speech in this second book, although the idiomatic vocabulary for Jack and Pete is not quite perfect yet (as a lifelong resident of London I have yet to hear anyone addressed as 'you big pair of knickers'). Lawrence the Rasta's accent and vocabulary, however, are flawlessly executed -- he is in general an interesting and gentle character and I hope to see more of him in future books. I greatly looked forward to the publication of 'Demon Bound' and was not disappointed - the plot was fast-paced but had enough depth to avoid the risk of superficiality, and the author has a real talent for creating interesting, many-layered characters who catch and hold the reader's attention -- even the very minor ones like Robbie and Trixie. Roll on Black London III.

Gritty Urban Fantasy

I just finished reading Demon Bound by Caitlin Kittredge, and I must say that it was a refreshing step into a darker urban fantasy world. I have read both the Nocturne City series and both of the Black London novels thus far, and Black London has my attention. I find it incredibly original and unforgiving. Kittredge's characters, both Pete and Jack, are not the classic urban fantasy "I'm awesome and beautiful and perfect and I'm going to kick your butt! Everything is rainbows and butterflies...yay!" Instead, Kittredge gives us extremely flawed characters that will kick your arse if you look at them the wrong way. Stand out scene for me....Jack's slight relapse back into his heroin addiction. Intense writing! I can't wait for the next one.

And now the long wait for the next one...

I'm now officially completely in love with the Black London series. I enjoyed Street Magic immensely and this follow up is equally good, if not better, though it does have a cliffhanger ending that will make it a long and hard wait for the next one in the series. Jack Winter is a blunt, forceful and unapologetic character who fascinates me on a par with Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden. The author's rich writing of Jack's Manchester accent is such that I can hear him in my head when I read, and the development of his complicated relationship with Pete adds further interest to the fast-paced action of the story (there's a demon after Jack, who's bargain has come due). Excellent, very edgy urban fantasy.

extremely dark urban fantasy

Punk rocker Jack Winter died thirteen years ago, but walks the streets of London because he made a Faustian deal with a demon in which he bought time (see Street Magic) but now the mage is back on the brink of death again. As the demon scorns his mortality, Jack fought death before and plans to do so again; as he will not go mildly into the night. His muse to live is Detective Inspective Pete Caldecott who saw him make that original deal when she was a teen. Jack has kept Pete in the dark about his deal. She is irritated with him because she senses he is hiding something from her. When he goes to Thailand in a Hail Mary ploy to save his life, she follows him; not understanding what is going on, but knowing whatever it is will prove nasty. The second grim tour of Caitlin Kittredge's Black London is bleak and gruesome as the shadows seem ubiquitously ready to reach out to abduct the souls, minds, and bodies of the innocent. Jack is terrific as he faces his "maker" while Pete is his reason to live; in his mind she is a much nobler cause than his previous quest for life. Fans will relish this extremely dark urban fantasy as the malevolent and sinister stalk and lurk everywhere while wondering if Jack can survive having died once before. Harriet Klausner