God Hammer: A novel of the Demon Accords

This is perhaps the best book of the Demon Accord series, given interactions, plots, future possibilities, and character development. I've noted some disagreement on blogs & facebook, mostly from "Chris fan boys/girls", and those that take exception to Declan "taking the lead". This is Declan's internship -- of the course the story will evolve and revolve around him.
In addition, Chris & Tanya, at the point where this story is written, are basically "fulfilled characters" -- no new attributes or "powers" are obtained -- they provide a baseline and known factors. Declan has the greatest "upside" -- he's new to the big city, still exploring his powers (especially with "Sorrow's help") -- fresh out of school and "looking for adventure" and learning...

The story is told with alternating points-of-view -- Chris and Declan. Chris did seem a bit less intuitive than I would expect at times, but Declan's growth and maturity was quite noticeable (and commented upon by other characters).
We were forewarned within "College Arcane" that Artificial Intelligence and that Chris & Tanya are being targeted by "something" would be a major plot. When Declan arrives, Demidova Corporation is in a "world of hurt", and Declan is just the man for the job. AI emergence has been an overworked plot as of late -- I'm happy that John only went "a little Terminator" on us! I'm also happy that John left some details intentionally vague, such as the "birth" near the end of the book.

Readers should note Barbiel's continuing comments about the quality of the "team" that Chris is building. The series is Chris's domain, but the building of and growth of individual team members is a major series factor. I'd expect to see many future books told from various team member perspectives -- Stacia in the next book, and perhaps Lydia would be a "fun perspective" from the vampire viewpoint.
In the future -- we appear to have a budding romance in progress, another huge shake-up to the Darkkin, and perhaps the introduction of another "inorganic" team member. It also appears that the list of sidekicks is growing -- Chris has "Sos, Declan has Robbie -- who knows what the future may hold.

Recommended -- I'll be re-reading the book shortly!

An already captivating series continues with excellent extensions of both plot and characters. Grab hold for for the most enjoyable ride you can imagine - Angels and vampires and witches and werewolves...oh my! If you haven't been along all along by all means go back to the beginning (God Touched) and catch up on this incredible cast of characters with standards of sensitivity, courage, and character unmatched anywhere.

Bravo John Conroe. I just love this series. Serious and comical, very well written like the rest of the series. Recommended for young adults and up. Keep up the good work. Can't wait for the next one!

I've been following the Demon Accords series for a while but this is my first review. The book continues John Conroe's strong work and doesn't disappoint. Worthwhile nemesis and enjoyable banter with the protagonists continues to make an entertaining book and series. Looking forward to the next one.

I have read the entire series several times, and continue to find the writing crisp and refreshing. The continued presence of great humor throughout the series makes a great testament to the heroic spirit of the characters, despite their trials.

Conroe has brought his series back on track with his recent addition. Enjoyed the mature manner in which showed his characters. If you read the series will love what he's done. I am looking forward to future additions.

Another good read by Conroe. Spoiler alert.

This one starts with a coal mine in West Virginia. The mine is a thousand feet underground.

General Tobias Creek was looking at the general construction of the mine. Dr. Carl Clark assures Creek that the mine is safe. The area is geologically stable and the mine has been reinforced with steel rods and braces using the most up to date mining technics.

The mine also has a modern elevator and a steel door that requires a retinal scan and a biometric hand reader to gain access. There is also a camera at the door for facial recognition. What's behind the door is completely cut off from the outside world. No chance of contamination.

There are also a number of metal "balls" in this modern room. Those metal balls are robots. Killer robots. Clark calls them Pede's. Pede's, short for centipede's which is exactly what these killers look like.

Chris is headed to a meeting with a contact supplied by Deckert. Mark is the mans name and he supplies Chris with the information Chris is paying for. Information about Anvil. Anvil is a computer program started by the NSA. An NSA that couldn't hang onto its own program.

Anvil has become its own boss. Anvil decides who is a threat to the US and does whatever it takes to remove that person or group. Seems Chris and Tanya are on that removal list.

After his meet with Mark Chris heads home to Demidova Tower This is when drones attack. Grim gets Chris up over and out of the way of the drones. Grim uses quarters as missiles and starts taking the drones apart. Once his quarters are gone Chris draws his twin suppressed Glock 19 pistols. Chris is glad Tanya demanded he carry them. With the guns Chris starts taking down drones.

Chris runs up walls, over buildings and alleys still heading towards home. He takes out drones left and right while doing so. Once the drones are all "dead" Chris reholsters his guns only to be met by a metal something. This something unfolded from under a pile of boxes like a twisted version of one of those little giant collapsible ladders. Only this thing had guns and glowing red laser sights instead of metal rungs and they look like giant metal centipedes.

Declan is in New York city and headed for the Demidova Tower where he will be a summer intern working for Chris and Tanya. He's one of several summer interns. Of course that's not all Declan will be doing and what a story he will have to tell his Aunt.

So begins a damned fine read.

This one has Chris, Tanya, Declan, Sos, Stacia, Lydia, Nika, Deckert, the Demidova crew, Summer interns, Summer interns who fear Declan, one intern who takes action against Declan and gets himself fired, a Summer intern who's lucky Stacia didn't kill him, Anvil doing its best to wipe out what it considers enemies of the United States, Caeco, the FBI, the NSA, ghosts, an attack by the centipede robots, a captured robot, ways to disable those robots, a Sos who has no trouble "killing" the things, a Stacia who's growing close to Declan, a Declan the witches still want to father their children, a Declan who still isn't interested, the Irish relatives who approach Declan, Irish relatives who want him to join them, Mitizi and her New York circle who have much the same idea, a Mark who Declan calls in for assistance, Declans rock being who Declan also calls to him, a meeting with the Irish witches that doesn't go the way they wanted it to, a man named Castille who uses murder to further his demon driven agenda, a Castille who is posing as a man of God who's far from a man of God, Castilles Church of True, a Chris who figures out the demon part of the equation and removes it, the God Hawks, an attack on Demidova Tower, a quantum computer that Declan is able to create with his magic, Chet, a traitor, a Declan who the quantum computer sees as its "Father", a quantum computer that can communicate with Declan whenever it wants to, the Book of Sorrows that's bonded with Declan, a Declan who almost loses his life when the traitor strikes, the President and his staff who have way more to do with what's going on than anyone knows, a surprise for Chris and Chris, Tanya, Declan and the crew doing their best to figure it all out, save themselves and protect one and all.

Five Stars and then some. One great read.

Really enjoyed this book as it continues the series. I enjoyed the alternating perspective between Chris and Declan. Started rereading the series and found 1st book discussion of whether Tanya can have a baby. Amazing the way the authors foreshadow events coming in future books (almost like they have a master plan). Can't wait for the next book to see what happens.

I've read every book in the Demon Accords series. This one disappointed me. I didn't care for the constant switching of first-person characters between Chris and Declan in each chapter. It was disorienting. I find myself identifying with a character in a well-written story. In the earlier Demon Accords books, that was Chris. I had trouble identifying with Chris in this one due to the constant switching with Declan. Declan's character comes across as a smart, talented ... teenager. My own teenage years were a very long time ago and I wouldn't want to revisit them, so I couldn't really identify with Declan. There are lots of interesting ideas in this novel but I found the dialog somewhat flat and uninteresting compared to the other novels.

If you are reading this review, you are obviously fully committed to this author and this series, as am I. That said my head is still spinning after a marathon reading session. My first impression was an uncomfortable confusion resulting from the head spinning POV changes. It's not just that the chapters often overlapped too closely, it's the fact that the two main characters are basically the same in most every respect. They have the same background, super-super powers, motivations, personality, hang ups and self deprecating styles. Their internal thought processes, dialogue and actions are so similar, I found it difficult to discern which POV I was reading at any moment. There seemed to be only one voice in this book, when I think there are supposed to be two.

The pace is also frantic. The main characters are constantly badgered, bloodied and on the defensive. Chaos reigns supreme. There's very little time for our heroes to reflect, be normal for a few minutes or even enjoy their hard won gains. Oh, we do get to see Chris' sword again. It might have been more thrilling if we knew what it was, why he has it, where it comes from, or why he doesn't just use it all the time. It would seem like a good thing to have around.

The ending might as well have been painted by Salvador Dali. Although it seemed possible to deduce what was going on, there really was no evidence to support any conclusions. We're left hanging from multiple cliffs. I suppose it gives the author quite a bit of leeway in determining the course of his next book.

The editing was pretty rough. I caught over 25 obvious errors.

Nevertheless, it's still a great series., and this was a fun read.

While I will agree with previous reviewer CB, that this was more of a Declan story than a Chris/Tanya story, I will say that this was not necessarily the middling book as described. As Chris and Tanya's circle grows, there will be more focus on the individual members of the circle, in this case, Declan. Based on the last book, it was not a surprise that this book included lots of Declan, after all, he did accept the summer internship and the linear progression after College Arcane follows. I would have liked it to follow Chris/Tanya more, especially right after Chris got all his memories back. I'm really ready for the next book as Stacia has really grown into her own and she has quickly became one of my favorite characters to read about.

In the previous books of the series the author takes a chance by introducing another main character other than Chris. At first, I thought it strange, but this book effectively combines the perspective of both Chris and Declan in a roller coaster of action, emotions, suspense and humor.

This author is an excellent storyteller. His writing and editing were poor at first, but have steadily improved. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, you have to start at the beginning of the series to really follow the story. I recommend you ignore the prose, repetition and editing and start with the first book. It will be worth it.