Devil’s Due

Luther Cross Series, Book 1

By: Percival Constantine

Narrated by: JD Jackson

Luther Cross here. Dangerously handsome, effortlessly stylish half-demon, at your service. As I have inherited certain...abilities with my odd genetics, I've put them to use as Chicago's foremost paranormal investigator.

My current case? Well, I have to admit, it feels a little personal. I'm helping a mysterious girl who's turned up on my doorstep, pregnant through mystic means. I can't help but think of my own mother...and if I don't help her, she'll face the same fate.

Turns out, someone is trying to create an army of half-demons. While it might be a pleasant change to hang out with my own kind, I know most half-demons don't have my sense of morality. If I don't stop this evil plan, the armistice between Heaven and Hell will be broken and all of the Earth will pay...it will be the beginning of the end.

©2017 Percival Constantine (P)2018 Tantor

Good enough storyline.....

The book definitely holds your interest and is narrated very well.
For a Christian though there are a few things said that border on being sacrilegious.
Nevertheless.... the story itself is a pretty good one. Has quite a few suspenseful moments, some well-timed humorous statements, and even some moments of slight romance.
So all-in-all a good read.

A Black John Constantine!!

An A+ for Luther across.

Thank you Percival my kind Sir!! A wonderful read indeed. Not every day you see an African American male cast a Bad GoodGuy in books. Give us more!

Urban Fantasy Noir with Demonic Dabblings

I never used to like Urban Fantasy. I always felt it was out of place and forced. Harry Dresden sort of reinforced that belief, I mean a giant spell slinger zipping around Chicago blowing things up? That sort of thing just seemed implausible. But, I slowly gave it a try, and over time the genre grew on me. I really found some interesting series that I grew to love. Now, I seek out Urban Fantasy whenever I can.

I had read Constantine's superhero book Vanguard, and saw that he had an Urban Fantasy series, and I just had to try it out. My go to books are Yancy Lazarus, Sandman Slim, Colin McCool, Prof. Croftt, etc and I have to say that Luthor Cross fits right in with them. Now, I am going to say this, when I looked over the kindle reviews I saw a lot of crap about Luthor being black. One guy complained that he was stereotypical with drug addict relatives, and another complained about how Luthor's race was made irrelevant in the story. Pointing out that basically all Constantine did was make a black character, and then didn't do anything relating to his race after that. I'm going to say that that is utter crap. No one in the Dresden Files comments of Harry's ethnicity, and Sandman Slim only references his angelic side when it comes to race being important. The fact is his race really isn't important, unless you make it important. The only thing that really matters is that he is half demon. You want to talk about that? Please do, but don't complain there aren't enough minority characters when someone actively makes an attempt to create one.

Now, as for the cover, I like it. You see Luthor, you see the magic, and you instantly read it as Urban Fantasy. The golden hues catch your eye, and the glow around his hand is not your typical spell casting effect that you generally see in UF. So, good job. You don't hide who the character is, and you let us know what he can do. Awesome.

As for the story, I have to say that the writing is on point, and the kidnapping is a perfect starting point for us to meet Luthor, although I understand that there are some short stories out there that are in desperate need of being collected. This is where the noir feeling comes into it all. You definately get a Sam Spade type vibe, even a Phillip Marlowe one. Luthor uses his head, in spite of his demonic heritage. I swear, I kept seeing Idris Alba as Luthor in Luthor. My only complaint is the repeated description of Lou's nicotine addiction. I really did get worn out listening to him prep up to smoke. I get that he is partially demonic, and that it plays into the character, but if Percival would just look at the comic book version of John Constantine he'd see a chain smoker, but also note that the act of flaring up is a minor thing. I get the cool cigarette case, and the need to impress that he is a hardened fellow who needs a drag to get by, but it was a little overboard. That is the one negative I could find.

There are a lot of threads that are woven together in this book. Heaven, Hell, other creepy creatures, four girls who need protecting, and Luthor caught in between them all. The book is exciting and dreadful all at once. You get dark moments of danger, and the thrill of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Constantine is an excellent writer, and he knows just which buttons to push to make you want more. You will not want to turn the audio off. When it ends you will want to go straight into the next one without waiting. That is a rare thing, and in Urban Fantasy it is hard to find.

JD Jackson has a deep melodious tone that just resonates in your ears. He really knows how to build up tension. Just listening to Luthor walk down a hallway is intriguing. He adds a lot of class and gravitas to the story. I enjoyed hearing his monsters and maidens, but Luthor was his best. I really can't wait to hear more from him in the future.

This is the first book in a series, and I for one, hope it is a long one. This stands right beside Dresden and Sandman Slim. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. In fact, getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

decent read

started out good but the character development was slow and hard to follow. hopefully it will pick up better

This was a great listen!!!

This book was great. Good characters and dialogue. Story was interesting, action was pretty good. Will definitely get the next book in the seris.

It’s alright

The book does the thing where you figure out the hints far faster than the antagonist then painfully wait for him to put the pieces together.