Duel Nature

Currently, there are another eight book in John Conroe’s “Demon Accords” series. Unfortunately, this book, ”

Duel Nature (The Demon Accords Book 4)

“, is bad enough that I won’t be reading the rest of the series. I had issues with the three earlier books, but the writing was good enough that it overcame them. This book, though: no. First, the book has no real story. It consists of five short missions/activities which have absolutely nothing tying them together or carry-over from one to the next. It almost feels like five short stories. Second, four of those segments have issues:

– The first one involves a rogue/lone vampire. The problem is why would a “master” vampire create and immediately abandon such a thing? It’s against their power-mongering nature. Yet, this is never explained or touched on.
– The third segment is utterly ridiculous. There’s no way some quasi-, semi-, government agency could have tracked the protagonists and set up such a far-fetched plot. It’s just flat out stupid. Plus, during this one, they learn that that agency has kidnapped vampires and is “farming” them. Our vampire heroine has no response to that and never thinks of it again.
– The fourth segment (about 10% of the book) is just a long conversation with yet another government agency about the exact same stuff they discussed in the first couple of books with the government. Ugh.
– The fifth segment (30% to 40% of the book) covers vampire politics. It’s pretty pointless and goes nowhere.

But, the biggest problem is the ending. Basically, our hero gets in a car and drives off to another mission. The book stops. There’s no ending.

Since this is the last of this series I’ll be reading, I’ll also point out that the name of the series is “The Demon Accords.” Yet, none of the books has really had anything to do with those accords. In the first two books, we get an inkling of a demonic plan. We also learn our protagonist is “God’s warrior”, has a past, angelic history, works with an angel, and that God really got the short end of the stick with that Accord. Since then, nothing. There have been one or two demons in passing, but, otherwise, the very name of the series has been rendered moot. It’s all male adolescent vampire fantasy with no maturation or power balancing. So, that’s that. I’m rating this book at a Pretty Bad 2 stars out of 5 and won’t be reading the rest of the series (which, from what I’ve seen, doesn’t even involve these characters any more).

While slightly disjointed, Duel Nature is among the first of Conroe’s books to expose us to the wider Darkkin community, and as a sucker for world-building, I’m eager to see more of it. Though Conroe has only begun to tap into what lays outside of New York, Duel Nature shows that the supernatural world is far from one-dimensional. Chris comes up against a small circle of witches, a rogue werewolf distanced from any pack, yet another government agency hell-bent on capturing him, and the first Coven Conclave in hundreds of years. Yet, throughout it all, Chris’ biggest enemy is still himself, as Grim’s explosive fury clashes with the ice-cold politics of the Darkkin.

It’s not the most thought-provoking book you’ll ever read, but Conroe’s skill has come a long way since God Touched, and there’s still another dozen-odd books to go.

For the record, I only given 5 stars for books that change(d) my life. 4 stars are for really great books. 3 stars are for really good books and or really good “reads” but that are not going to (and are not intended to) change the world.

So, 3 stars because I really like this book and the others in the series. Conroe’s prose is clean and easy to read. Each page flows into the next. I blew through each of the books in no time at all because they are fun to read. They are also easy to digest because nothing genuinely bad ever really happens to anyone. The good guys always win. The good guys never really get permanently hurt. This doesn’t bother me, by the way. Sometimes it’s nice to have a superhero fantasy in which you can feel safe and protected from any hard emotional consequences. The only criticism I have in the conceptual foundation of the books are that the “theology” (for want of a better term) gets a little muddy. On the one had, Conroe is (to my way of thinking anyway) admirably non-denominational in his dealings with the spiritual structure of the Universe (or Earth, anyway), granting legitimate “spiritual” powers (like exorcism) to believers in several faiths, and including spirit entities from the Native American traditions (this entity is one of my favorite characters, I must admit), but then…well…then he trips himself up and brings a very Catholic-configured angel into the picture. Admittedly, the angel is willing to meet with him on any kind of holy site, no matter the belief system, but, nonetheless, the angel repeatedly suggests that our hero is doing work for a VERY Judeo-(but MUCH MORE)-Christian seeming God and his army of angels. Which is entirely Conroe’s prerogative. It’s not the theology I object to, it’s the incongruity, as all the rest of the “Magical Laws of Physics” he lays out suggests a non-sectarian structure (or at least hierarchy) to the Spiritual World. The good news is that it doesn’t get in the way of enjoyable stories. I bring it up mostly because, while I kind of love the whole demon-fighting on earth genre, I don’t love (and feel disenfranchised by, to be honest) the whole reliance on the essential “Truth” of the Catholic Church’s theology plus-minus the Book of Revelations template. I guess I am a little (maybe unfairly) disappointed becasue Conroe got 90% of the way there, but then capitulated…or at least seems to have thus far…There is still time, I guess, as he has not yet offered a full disclosure of “How Things Really Work.” For what it;s worth, I’m going to keep reading and find out. The books are fun enough that I’ll even forgive him if he sticks with the whole angels and demons thing…though I really, really hope he does not.

Highly entertaining fantasy read in a contemporary landscape, with well rounded characters written by an author with a sense of humour. Each new book teaches us the reader a little more about the amazing individuals that populate this parallel world where the fantastic and unbelievable become everyday.
I was very surprised at just how much I enjoyed this series, and I eagerly await the next instalment.
Loved it!

Love the new take on the supernatural from global ignorance of the supernatural to mostly expeptance. I also enjoy the different narratives.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member