Personal Demons is the third novel and the fourth book in the Good Intentions series by Elliott Kay, published on September 26 2016. A supernatural power vacuum has developed in Seattle, and various groups and factions react to that in various ways.
Publisher’s summary[]
Alex always knew romance would be complicated. When love came into his life with wings and horns, he knew those complications would be a little unusual. Four months after meeting Rachel and Lorelei, Alex finally has a handle on divine visitations, supernatural enemies, and the echoes of reincarnation. He might even survive bringing an angel and a demon home for Christmas with the family.
He might not survive what comes next. A favor for friends brings Alex into a heated feud among Seattle’s sorcerers. The lords of Hell aren’t pleased with the chaos wrought by Lorelei’s escape, and they’re looking for payback. Worst of all, her angry ex-boyfriend has blown into town… and he just happens to be the Angel of Death.
Publisher’s warning[]
Personal Demons contains explicit sex, explicit violence, explicit language, explicit use of implications, open relationships, polyamory, blasphemy, sacrilege, heresy, paganism, sorcery, portrayals of matters divine and demonic bearing little or no resemblance to established religious canon, prejudice, murder, mass murder, singular murder, alley murder, conspiracy to commit murder, regicide, treason, dismemberments, impalement, arson, defenestration, racially charged ‘Nam flashbacks, trash-talking, smuggling, mansplaining, spoiled Christmas surprises, numerous state and Federal firearms violations, organized crime, transnational crime, avian conscription, disturbances of the peace, paranoia, Doomsday preppers, illegal immigration, party fouls, public endangerment, underage drinking, human sacrifice, destruction of cell phones, false identification, consumption of alcohol, mayhem, attempted kidnapping, mass vehicular collisions, reincarnation, conspiracy to commit sexual promiscuity, threesomes, assault and battery, banditry, reverse banditry, eye-gouging, cultural misappropriation, trespassing, lies, innuendo, intrigue, foreplay under false pretenses, bribery, political corruption, spiritual corruption, misuse of military facilities, a blanket fort of ill repute, home invasion, warfare, espionage, mercenary activity, consumption of sentient beings, panhandling, lingerie, cohabitation outside of marriage, missed homework assignments, too much pizza, toxic masculinity, abbreviated sex scenes, fully descriptive sex scenes, romantic sex, casual sex, mild dom/sub play, mystic servitude, stalking, knife-throwing, weaponized alcohol, weaponized furniture, weaponized human remains, drone strikes, slavery, eternal damnation, mind control, carjacking, spitting, biting, vandalism, gossip, sexual objectification, immolations, feminist solidarity, zombie terrorists, pissy ex-boyfriends, too much information from Grandpa, and a flagrant narrative disregard for common standards of decency.
Appearances[]
Roughly in order of appearance.
Characters[]
- Molly Murray
- Onyx
- Aaron
- Elizabeth Van Dalen
- Leon
- Dutch
- Alex Carlisle
- Lorelei
- Bralk
- Rachel
- Ryzeth, Sylyd, and Voxrel, stalkers serving Belial
- Drew Jones and family
- Sandra, his sister
- Leticia Jones, his mother
- Michelle Carlisle and parents
- Darren (mentioned only)
- Sherri (mentioned only)
- Belial
- Abaddon (mentioned only)
- Azazel
- Moloch
- Beelzebub
- Adramalech
- Mammon
- Leviathan (mentioned only)
- Her herald (unnamed)
- Lilith
- Lucifer (mentioned only)
- Belial
- Sammael
- At the New Year’s party[1]
- Nick, a pot smoker
- Julie, a modern hippie (mentioned only)
- Peggy, a convalescent wild bat
- An unnamed but hopeful musician
- Many other unnamed friends of Molly and Onyx
- Claire, an French flight attendant
- Kate Oakwood
- Taylor
- Brendan, Taylor’s boyfriend (mentioned only)
- Jason Cohen
- Wade Reinhardt
- Ted
- Warren (mentioned only, unnamed)
- Hector Kingston
- Sierra
- Archimedes
- Hypatia
- Chen Jin
- Evelyn
- Joe
- Bill
- Coot
- Loretta
- Stefan (mentioned only)
- Daniel (angel)
- Julia
- Jon
- Marvin
- Natsuo
- Rico
- Austin
- Carter
- Dwayne
- Wes
- Yusuf
- Roger
- Tammy
- George, self-proclaimed La Chupacabra[2]
- Colleen Nguyen
- Amber Maddox
- Doug Bridger
- Matt Lanier
- Gerhardt Stein (unnamed, as corpse)
- Abdul, Farizah, Nidal, Lisa, Qasim, guardian angels
- Michelle Carlisle (on the phone)
- Nicolai
- Kierrk
- Hank
- Mandah
- Zafirah
- A corrupt preacher[3]
- Judy, his daughter (mentioned only)
- Xazzal
- Lydia
- Vincent
- Hannah
- Lawrence
- Dalton McGinley (mentioned only)
Locations & organizations[]
- Seattle
- Elizabeth’s bookstore
- Michelle’s house
- House 12573
- Suite 1705
- A coffee shop in Capitol Hill
- University of Washington
- The Light
- Native circle
- The casino
- International circle
- Circle’s End bookstore (mentioned only)
- Conservatory (mentioned only)
- Brotherhood of Apollo (mentioned only)
- Ahmed Kovac’s pool hall (mentioned only)
- Hell
- Northwestern Iraq
- Aurora Avenue
- Damascus, Syria
- Beirut, Lebanon
- Rico’s team
- Special Task Force
- The Family (unnamed)
Items[]
Continuity[]
Personal Demons is set during Christmas, New Year’s Eve, and the following week.
Key earlier stories, apart from Good Intentions and Natural Consequences, are “Authenticity” and Skin. “Authenticity” gives background on Molly’s and Onyx’s position amongst Seattle’s Practitioners. Skin adds background on demons and introduces some key concepts related to them. Molly’s and Onyx’s house is introduced in “More Than Friends”.
Key events in the story are the Battle of the Casino, the Battle of Perdition, and the Battle of Suite 1705.
“Good Neighbors” serves as an extra epilogue to the book.
Theories[]
In a past life, Alex spent a single semester in college, though it is not stated which or when.[4] The most likely candidate is Simon.
Onyx says that she and Molly had been to two meetings involving multiple circles, or three including the Battle of Blackthorne Manor.[5] One was the reading of Elizabeth’s will.[6] The other one is unknown.
In the opening of the Battle of Suite 1705, Aaron manipulated time, something which is very hard to do.[7] At the same time, Onyx acted supernaturally fast once she discovered the attack. One likely explanation is that the spell powered Aaron and his team to act supernaturally by first allowing the Crew in Suite 1705 to act supernaturally fast.
Trivia[]
In “Lifestyle Changes”, Rachel “passed intangibly” through the balcony door and dripped on the doormat inside, bringing the water with her.[8] In this story she said she usually walks through the wall to home, leaving all the water outside in an angel-shaped stain.[9]
When discussing where to regroup after the Battle of the Casino, Onyx says that “our apartment is about as good, but you [Lorelei] have more space”. Molly and Onyx had just moved into their new house, and did not live in an apartment anymore.
Alex said his story would require “a good forty-four hours of narration even without the recent nonsense”. The combined runtime of the audio editions of Good Intentions and Natural Consequences is roughly 44.5 hours.
Julie Dillon’s commissioned art piece “Alex Goes to Hell” inspired the inclusion of Hank.[10]
See also Pop culture references in Good Intentions.
Publication history[]
Personal Demons was first published as an ebook and paperback on September 26, 2016. An audiobook was released by Audible on January 24, 2017, narrated by Tess Irondale.
References[]
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 3
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 11
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 18
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 4
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 5
- ↑ “Authenticity”
- ↑ Past Due, chapter 16
- ↑ “Lifestyle Changes”
- ↑ Personal Demons, chapter 1
- ↑ Alex Goes to Hell, Elliott Kay’s blog October 2016