God Touched

This book at times does mimic the Twilight series but has its own unique characters. The thing I like most is that the main character has an important job as a demon slayer. He isn't just consumed with the vampires which makes it unique. Now I am off to read the next book. Hopefully it is better than the first.

This book explores an entirely new way of dealing with vampires and the rest of the hidden world. I still don't know everything the main character is capable of and I am now reading the 4th book in the series. I like the book because it's fresh and there is a right versus wrong aspect that I particularly like.

Main character comes off as a total Marty Stu - great at all the things, knows all the stuff, stumbles into a relationship with a woman who - summarizing from the book here - would rank at like 14/10... kinda heavy-handed, overall. Decent enough story, I guess, just not quite subtle enough for my liking.

I loved this book! The series only gets better and better! I usually stick with kindle unlimited books but I was completely hooked on this series!! I purchased and devoured all 11 books!! NEED MORE!!!

I really enjoyed this first installment. It did have some of today's infatuation with vampires but not in the sparkly, teenage angst way. Also, the editor needs to do a better job (the word is THAN, not THEN). But, all in all, the story moved quickly, had lots of action, and was thoroughly enjoyable. A rare four stars from me for a new series.

Fast paced, lots of action moving this 1st person told story along. But by the end you still care enough about the characters that the only reasonable way to describe the book is character driven. Awesome read. Jim Butcher fans will love it. This one certainly does.

Fun read. Fast paced, not too dark, plenty of action, funny and believable enough. Good introduction to a series. Hints of an interesting back story for the main character, definitely lots of room to grow the entire cast and story.

I loved his writing, except for one thing: he consistently uses the wrong pronouns when paired using "and." This may well be the fault of the editor he praises so highly in his acknowledgements. If you are an English major, this will be like listening to nails scraping on a chalkboard. If that doesn't bother you, go ahead and enjoy this. I've read the whole series with great pleasure, despite it.

I was hoping for more... something, IDK. It was good enough, but it could've been twice as violent and supernatural for me.
Check out Monster Hunters International. That's more like what I was hoping for with God Touched. Still, there's promise with GT. I may try the sequel.

I was just looking for a half way interesting book to kill some time. I started listening to this on my way to work, but found I was so engrossed in it that I was driving on automatic. I decided I was better off just reading instead. Maybe it was just the right story at the right time, but this is the most enjoyable book I've read in quite some time. I'm going for the second book right away.

This was a good one, loved the characters. A little overboard with the attributes, but a nice, fast read. Especially loved the bear! One thing though, it needs some serious editing for Kindle compatibility. A little irritating, but the story carried it.

Comic book or young adult book comes to mind when thinking of this book. The dialog is cheesy and world building is an afterthought. The focus here is action as character development is almost non existent. I may sample the next book to see if it is more of the same. If so I'll pass. I'm just not buying into this world so far.

Chris Gordon has everything that a guy could desire: good luck, good looks, strength, a lifetime of martial arts training and a strange ability to spot and fight demons. He's got a great new job as a New York police officer and he moonlights as a pro bono demon exorcist. Then things get even better when he saves a really hot vampire princess from death by demon and he gets a little of her infected blood and becomes even faster and stronger and better able to heal and a really hot vampire princess as a girlfriend. Then he saves a demon-possessed extinct bear and get a new buddy, and he saves a werewolf mother and son and gets the friendship of the were clan of New York. Plus, he gets a promotion to New York's very own super-secret "Hellboy bump back against the things that go bump in the night" squad. By the end of the story, he actually meets an angel who is obviously in his camp.

In short, this is the "origin" story for a series about a "super-hero," wherein we meet Our Hero and learn how he surrounded himself with the useful pawns and foils that will occupy the future episodes of his story. I found this aspect of the story just a little too pat. Things happen at breakneck speed and they are all good for Chris, notwithstanding his constant whining about the probable short life-span that comes from fighting demons and his romantic self-exile on account of his fear that his lady friends will be targeted by the demonic.

That said, the story was fast moving and enjoyable. A heavy dose of willing suspension of disbelief makes for a very quick and fun read. I will second the motion about the obvious grammar errors, e.g., it is "imminent death," not "eminent death" and "exorcise," not "exercise" and "composure," not "composer." Chalk that up to quite common mistakes that normally I let pass, but this time - perhaps because I was annoyed at the too pat arc by which Chris just go better and better - I made a note of these. Obviously, they can be easily fixed in the next edition.

Chris makes for an enjoyable heroic figure; he is a nice change from the whining wanna-be anti-heroes that inhabit all too many urban fantasy stories. Chris is just a "gung-ho" guy and that's nice for a change. I think I would recommend this for the reading group just beyond "young adult."

I would recommend this series to everyone that has ever enjoyed an urban fantasy book of any sort.
The prose is smooth. The characters are well designed and well realized. The plotlines are great, and each book ends at very reasonable points, ending each arc well. The world building actually makes sense, especially in that the author employs a plausible set of explanations for the existence of the supernatural without insulting anyone's religion overtly. The greatest weaknesses of the series lie in a few somewhat overpowered characters, and, in later books, some point of view hopping - which I dislike as a rule.
The Demon Accords and The Dresden Files should be mentioned together. I have and will be purchasing each book of both series as soon as they are released.

This book reads as if the author was imagining the whole thing as a movie. In fact, I found myself wishing someone WOULD film it, cuz I would probably pay to see it. It's not the best-written urban fantasy novel, and there are several easily recognizable elements of other stories/movies, but the story is entertaining and quick-moving and I will for sure buy the next one

...but just the kindle version.

This book had potential, and is well-written, but there is absolutely no suspense, and the hero is an unflawed paragon from the mind of a 13 year old who just got his first D&D set. He has his token tragic backstory where he lost his parents- but other than that he is: 1) independently wealthy
2) extremely good looking
3) in ridiculously good shape
4) can kill demons no sweat
5) has heightened senses and enhanced strength and good looks from the strongest vampire blood in existence
6) got that blood from his girlfriend who is the hottest woman EVER: "makes Victoria's Secret models look bad"
7) if that's not enough, he has an ultimately powerful demigod guardian angel bear that can kill anything with ease
8) oh and he seems to be immortal too.

So if you're the kind of person who enjoys playing video games in god-mode, this book is for you. But for me, that takes the fun out of it.

I downloaded this book on a free promotion day. I wanted something to read and I thought that it looked borderline interesting.

Turns out I was wrong, it's a fun, interesting and the two main characters are interesting enough that I was inspired to buy and reach each subsequent book in the series. Not bad at all for something that I was lukewarm about getting for free. If you're a fan of urban fantasy you need to give this a shot. There are angels, demons, vampires and an exorcist, if that sounds appealing buy it.

I enjoyed the main character. He was a different kind of hero. The character development was logical and made the fantasy world more believable. I could visualize the descriptions clearly. There was some lightheartedness and fun at times, poignancy, romance, drama . . . All in all a fun and exciting read.

4 stars for a compelling, character driven, non-twilight, non Anne Rice, supernatural story. This is not a Great work of literature, and the main character is a bit of an all knowing meathead at times ( way too much internal dialogue about 'look how strong I am') but overall it is a compelling read with a well thought out backstory.
jelireeves

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are tired of whiny heroes who get beat up all the time this is probably for you. These books are all filled with hell yeah moments connected with exploding skulls and awesomely clingy vampire love. Amazing stuff. The hero has real emotions which I normally hate, but it is balanced by crazily overpowered abilities that kept me reading.

Not great. I found the overuse of exclamation points to be very distracting and the characters to be grossly underdeveloped. The dialog was also fairly juvenile. I could not imagine anyone ever actually uttering the nonsense that came from some of the characters. I managed to finish the book, but it was a struggle.

This was a very well structured storyline with a perfect narrative . The characters all fit their respective roles and the action remained focused throughout the book. As you delved into the book your interest never waned as the writer just kept building the tempo so that you just couldn't put this book down. What a terrific read for young and old, well done Mr. Conroe I will be buying your next installment .

Vampires, Werewolves and things that go Bump in the night! You will fall in love with the people in this book and won't be able to put it down. Chris is a bad ass but also a kind hearted person you feel like you know as you read this book. This book had plenty of action and a romance that you will want to read many more books about!

If you enjoy a little action, fantasy and horror with your humor. This will fit the bill admirably. I just realised I hadn't reviewed this book and it's my favorite series in the genre with John Corwin's Overworld series a close second.

I saw this turn up after I completed another book. Read the sample and enjoyed it. Purchased the book, and really enjoyed reading the entire story. I really liked the mix of supernatural, reality and boy meets girl story all mixed in together. I going out to purchase the second book right now.

I really enjoy this series. Love the characters and the author does a terrific job letting me identify with those characters and I think that the stories are strong, but the plot lines struggle. The beginning of story lines never seem to tie back in the end. I will definitely continue reading this series and I really hope that the author adds a level of complexity to his story lines moving forward,

Summary: Interesting (and comfortably conventional) urban fantasy setting, memorable secondary characters, and a first-hit's-(almost)-free price make this a fun enough romp. Just don't read the second.

Detailed review:

Throws some good, established tropes together and stir: The rookie cop with a paranormal secret. The vampire-run nightclub. The secret, off-the-books NYPD unit that deals with the paranormal. The Evil Federal Agency That Gets In The Way Of Honest Cops. The "PCP-like" street drug made by paranormals. The beautiful vampire princess. Angels who hint that they could explain what's going on, but choose not to. The salt-of-the-Earth grandfather who raised the citified, supernatural-wielding young man with a savior complex. The ancient totem spirit who follows the protagonist around in the big city.

The apparently-new spice in the soup is that our protag exorcises demons, rather than being some other form of supernatural denizen. Of course, being a tough, slightly-smart-alecky protagonist exorcist(1), he has to refuse to talk about God while exorcising demons at the behest of various clergy(2), but that's what you expect from kids these days.

He's a rookie NYPD officer, so you know he'll be pulled in to a shadowy group that exists to keep the peace with vampires, werewolves, and whatever else they can find to shoot at. And the federal agency that does the same thing, being federal, will be run by tight-ass, career-minded jerks who want to make sure the honest cops of the NYPD fail.

And the vampire princess will be beautiful. And she will fall hopelessly in love with the protagonist the moment they meet.

And the new street drug making people go crazy and kill each other will be based on something supernatural and part of some plot that threatens the princess, the city, and probably life as we know it.

But don't get me wrong: I would have been happy to have read this even if it cost more than a dollar. It's schlock, but it's competently written schlock with fun characters (the totem spirit character--trying not to give any spoilers here--is especially memorable), the exorcism angle (although basically tossed off-screen early in the book) is nicely handled, the main character has a great collection of flaws and foibles (none of which the fantasy-wish-fulfillment vampire princess girlfriend could ever see, but she's not one of the better-drawn characters), and the expected plot direction (hint: it's vampire politics; it's always vampire politics) is quite readable.

There isn't really any plot here, just a series of vaguely-related things that happen, but for a quick, standalone story about an interesting angle on comfortable tropes, I'm glad I read it.

There is one caveat, though: I went ahead and read the second book in the series, Demon Driven. Don't. It's a bait-and-switch to a completely different genre, it display the weak stereotypes, hackneyed angst, and transparent sitcom miscommunications that the first book avoided, and it falls apart in a badly-plotted ending. Treat this as a one-shot and you'll do fine.

Footnotes:
1) You can't have an actual, religious protagonist--even an exorcist--unless he's a priest or (maybe) some other kind of clergy in a modern fantasy book without being pigeonholed as "Christian literature."(3) If that happens, your market expands tenfold, but no one outside of that market takes you seriously. And there are so many things wrong with that, I don't know where to begin.

2) This being NYC, clergy of all types are mentioned, as long as they aren't Muslim.

3) Of course, generic, woovy-groovy all-encompasing "Native American" shaman are grandfathered in, as long as they mostly follow some Americanized representation of a trickster god.

Ok, where to start. This series doesn't really do anything that hasn't been done before, a human who falls in love with a vampire, and all the adventures that come with it. Where these books excelled is the characters, they are written in a way that when you finish a book it feels like your saying goodbye to good friends. As the protagonist falls in love, so do you as the reader. The characters are fleshed out in a way that makes you care about what happens to them.

Synopsis

The follows the story of a young man named Chris Gordon, who was born and raised in Upstate New York, but has just become a cop in New York City. While on the outside he is your normal 23 year old, he has a gift, or curse depending on how look at it, that will forever set him apart from the human race. He hunts demons, and banishes them back to hell. Until one night he's at a club with his co-workers after work, and see's a demon following one of the beautiful dancers toward the back room. He follows to intervene, and while he does save her from the demon, his life is forever changed. The dancer happens to be a vampire princess who has been in a catatonic state for 15 years. In saving her, Chris breaks her out of her stupor, and instantly becomes linked to her in more ways then he knows.

Characters

These are the people that drive this series, they are the ones that will have you coming back to the series over and over again.

Christian Gordan

Chris is the main protagonist, and the book is written from his perspective in a first person narrative. Chris is a young man who was raised by his grandfather from the time he was eight years old, after his family was murdered in a horrific home invasion. He has the ability to banish demons back to hell, and because of this he is unable to get close to anyone besides his grandfather. If he does the demons, somehow, instantly know who it is and will threaten them. Chris moves from Upstate New York to New York City because of its higher concentration of demon activity, he becomes a cop because it's the only way he can legally carry a gun in the city.

Chris was very easy for me to relate to, as we are both from upstate New York, and raised in a rural areas. The author does a good job creating Chris' personality to feel like a young man raised in Upstate New York. He doesn't like to draw attention to himself, he's very down to earth, and has good common sense in most situations. Although due to his lack of relationships he tends to be somewhat slow when it comes to women.

Tatiana Demidova

Tatiana or Tanya to her friends, is the female lead, and love interest to Chris. She is the only vampire to have been born, not made, and because of this she is revered as something of a prodigy, especially among the younger vampires. Unfortunately she had a traumatic experience when she was younger which made her slip into a semi-catatonic state, not talking to anyone for fifteen years. Until one day she is saved, by Chris, from a demon, and is awoken. Her and Chris are the same age, born on the same day, at the exact same time. As their relationship grows they share a bond, and it was watching this bond grow as the books progressed.

I enjoyed watching Tanya's character grow through the series, in the beginning she is portrayed as somewhat fragile to almost helpless. By the 5th book she had done a complete turn around, she is in charge, she's completely confident in herself, and what in she does, as well as having a very shrewd business mind. And because she is a "pure blood" her vampire powers are equivalent to that of a seven or eight hundred year old vampire. That dynamic was fun, while she is this really powerful vampire, she is also just a twenty three year old girl, and I think that works well in her relationship with Chris.

Lydia

Lydia started out as something of a caretaker for Tanya during her 15 years of silence. Now that Tanya has awoken she is more of a sister and close friend, as well as being her trusted confidant.

I liked watching Lydia's relationship with Chris grow through the series, it was similar to how an older sister would treat a younger brother, always picking on each other, while at the same time they were really good friends.

Nika

Nika is a minor character in the first book and her character isn't explored much until the fourth and fifth books. She is another one of Tanya's "sisters", and also has the power to read minds. From the little bit of Nika that we do see in the later books her character shows promise and intrigue. I look forward to an expanded role for her in future books.

Alex "Gramps" Gordon

Gramps, as he is most commonly refer to, is Chris' grandfather, and the man that raised him after the death of his parents. While it is evident that he loves his grandson, he comes off as somewhat of a gruff "tough love" sort of guy. He has instilled a sense of honor in his grandson, and also taught him that respect is is earned not given. Chris also gets his levelheadedness, and good common sense that he uses to attack a problem, from his grandfather.

My Quick Thoughts

I won't give too much away, but I will say that this book defiantly has a "manly" feel about it. (For the record I am not complaining :P ) All the women are very strong willed and very beautiful, especially Tanya. The action scenes are extreme, in depth, and very well written, also the authors knowledge of firearms was extensive which helped to give a authentic feel to the battle scenes. The first book even has a fairy tale, "Sleeping Beauty" sort of theme to it, with the dashing New York City police officer saving the sleeping princess.

While the story line and setting is really nothing new, it's that characters that drive this series, and make you want to keep reading. I really enjoyed reading this series and eagerly await the next installment which will hopefully be coming out sometime next summer.

Terrific. I Started this book at lunch and played hooky all day. Real page turner and there are 7 books in the series. I haven't been this excited since I discovered Dresden's Alexa Codex. Great book. Paced. So worth the price of admission.

The story and characters were a little "goody-goody" missing some of the grit that most urban fantasy books have but all in all it was a great, fun read. I'm definitely going to add this to my list of series to work through as there is a lot of potential in the world and characters John Conroe shows in this first book.

There are so many vampire series being published today. I enjoyed the likability of this characters. Also the black vs white. Definitely intrigued about what is to come. Who doesn't like an aged ghost bear as a friend.

Pretty good. Very entertaining, not overly complex. Sometimes you just need an entertaining, easy read that's not overly dramatic and doesn't take itself too seriously. Very fun read, great characters...great merge on ideas from Underworld, the movie. It even references it as an aside. Thought that was funny.

Good book, interesting characters, but definitely not a saga, or world building theme, instead he expanded the super natural world as a world that exists around us, but most are oblivious of. I am looking forward to see where he takes it all.

I picked this book based on reviews by other readers, and the store's recommendation based on other books that I read.

I thoroughly enjoyed the main character's wise guy and self-deprecating nature. There was clever interplay between him and a number of other characters and the action was fast-paced. Initially I didn't see how a demon exorcist was going to jive with vampires and were creatures, but the author makes it work.

I am psyched that there are many more books in the series and expect to enjoy them all

I really enjoyed this paranormal novel and am so glad this is the beginning of a new series I have not read. Chris the main character is very believable as the demon hunter/policeman who has become mixed up with vampires and other supernatural creatures. A very good story well worth reading.