{Review} of The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle

The Devil's Metal by Karina Halle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

GENRE: New Adult
THEME: Demon/Paranormal Romance
RECEIVED: Author
AUTHORS BLOG: Karina Halle's Site

BLURB:

It’s the summer of 1974 and 21-year old Dawn Emerson has only three things she wants to do: compete one last time in the Ellensburg Rodeo, win back her ex-boyfriend Ryan, and become the best damn music journalist at Central Washington University. But all her plans are left in the dust when she’s contacted by Creem magazine to go on the road with one of her favorite groups, the up-and-coming metal band, Hybrid.

At first the assignment reads like a dream come true. Not only will Dawn land some much-needed credibility as a female music journalist, but she’ll finally get to experience life from the other side of the stage, and maybe crack the drunken, enigmatic code that is guitarist Sage Knightly. Instead, Dawn finds herself on an aging tour bus filled with ego-maniacs, band politics and a whole lot of sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. When monsters start showing up in dressing rooms and some of Sage’s groupies become increasingly strange and dangerous, Dawn discovers the band is not only going places – they’re going straight to Hell.

And Dawn has a backstage pass.

REVIEW:
Karina Halle is an author that I have at the top of my list every time a new title is released. I’ve been inching to read her latest in a new adult series The Devil’s Metal and finally had the chance to dig in. I knew this was going to be way different from the EIT series, I loved that the characters still had that damaged vibe and the female lead was one tough cookie.

The Devil’s Metal follows Dawn Emerson in 1974; she has a passion for writing and will do anything to become a music journalist. When she randomly gets the phone call of her dreams, to tour with one of her favorite bands, she jumps at the chance. Little does she know the band Hybrid has some interesting secrets, not only is their the normal sex, drugs, and crazy groupies but an evil starts showing up and it has its eyes set on the band and Dawn.

Dawn was so much different than Karina’s other strong lead Perry from EIT. That’s what I was hoping for, she’s very close with her family who are not perfect, and she’s educated and has a goal set for her life. I liked how she took a chance, even with this opportunity that was brought to her in a very “iffy” way. I also loved how she would really get into the music, she’d just close her eyes and listen, it made me as the reader feel like I was at the concert with Dawn. She also is a pretty innocent character; the band opens up her eyes in some very bold ways to the life of rock and roll.

Sage is a character that the readers will fall for immediately. With a wild group of people in the band, Sage is the Zen and straight thinker out of all of them. Plus he’s a huge mystery to Dawn and she can’t wait to interview him. He definitely makes it tough for her when she first comes on the tour, but the readers get to see everyone friendships change and grow, along with Sage and Dawns.

Overall I loved how original and different this story was from anything that I’ve read. I’m not a big music person, but I knew most of the bands and musicians mentioned, that where huge in the 70s and still popular now. I’m also not a fan of this era, but I liked the behind the scene feel of following a band and seeing what really happens, it’s like really being there. Then there are the groupies, they are their own characters that are super important to the plot, but let me just say they are super creepy! My only issue was the how the relationship developed for Sage and Dawn, I was hoping for something different and was a little surprised at how it came together. All in all the dark horror side of the story really creeps into the plot and starts making Dawns dream become a nightmare.

This is a must read for anyone who loves rock and roll, romance, paranormal goodness and some really well developed characters that I absolutely fell for. After the ending, I know that The Devil’s Metal is only the beginning of one crazy ride and I for one can’t wait for the next book.

RECOMMENDATION:
This is a new adult novel with sexual content that’s for mature readers. Karina Halle is a one of a kind author that got me hooked into the horror/romance genre. I highly recommend this to fans of horror and paranormal enthusiast looking for something different.

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