Death’s Daughter-Amber Benson

Death’s Daughter
Amber Benson
Ace, Mar 2009, $7.99
ISBN: 9780441016945

She works in a dead end job because her boss relies on her so much she refuses to promote Calliope Reaper-Jones. She lives in New York, which is in her blood as a fashionista, but has not had a real date in months. One day on her way to work, Calliope sees a dinosaur-dragon who guards her building’s door. At work, she goes to the bathroom where she meets a faun who breaks the forget-me spell leading to Calliope realizing who she is and what her family heritage is.

She is her daddy’s daughter so handles well the news from her father’s assistant the faun Jarvis that her sire, her sister Thalia and the rest of Death, Inc has been kidnapped. At her mother’s request, Calliope returns home to see Sea Verge. She learns her family will be evicted from their home if Callie fails to become the Grim Reaper. To make the conversion to CEO, she must perform three tasks to determine her worthiness. First she must capture one of Cerberus’ pups. Second she must find the Sea Foam from Indra a Hindu God who wants to kill the demon Vrita and find the Cup of Lamshid. Challenging her is Daniel who wants to be the next Death and Detective Davenport of the Psychic Bureau of Investigation who believes she was part of the kidnapping plot of her dad. If she succeeds and becomes Death, Callie knows this does not guarantee she will be able to rescue her father.

Leaving Buffy behind, Amber Benson writes an amusing action-packed chick lit urban fantasy loaded with more twists and curves than a twist-a-whirl. The heroine does not want to be the next Death as that might interfere with her nails and what she seeks on Craig’s List, but knows her choices are limited to either death or Death. Filled with humor and wit, this is a refreshing original thriller as double, triple, and nth crossings are the norm.

Harriet Klausner