This title stands alone without relying much on having read the prior books in the series, mostly because the world-building and plot are simple enough that anyone familiar with paranormals can pick it up and gather what is going on. There is an immortal race called Therians, some who possess magic. Among them, a few are chosen to become animal shifters called Ferals. There are only nine Feral warriors left, and fighting together as a brotherhood, they face the Mages, a race of magic users with an agenda of freeing Satanan and Daemon's from hell. The magical "rules" of this world are uncomplicated and fairly well explained as they come up.

Olivia is a unique Therian, in that she is Draden-kissed. The Draden are small life-sucking batlike creatures who attacked Olivia as a young girl, killing her mother and the rest of her enclave and leaving her "kissed" with their powers. Since, she has been able to feed off of the life energy of others, including Draden. Being Draden-kissed is a curse among Therians, so she's hidden this ability from the world and focused on exacting her revenge (through Draden-hunting) ever since. She has an opportunity to join the Ferals in their Daemon hunt, except for the Feral warrior who can sense it when she feeds.

Having not read the series up to this point, I can't attest to the quality (or lack thereof) of Jag's character in the other books. In this book, however, he spends the first half being rude, vulgar, and completely mean-spirited. Even his attraction to the heroine is grating, especially as he uses her secret to humiliate and degrade her. And while Olivia does put him in his place at first, even seeing her pain doesn't affect his attitude. For some reason, she decides Jag is just misunderstood. Their sexual encounters are hot and filled with intense mutual attraction, in complete opposition to the emotional arc of the story. It isn't until Olivia shows genuine concern for Jag's life that he realizes the depth of his feelings for her, and yet he still fights them.

When the Mages capture Olivia with the intentions of using her powers for evil, Jag repeatedly puts his life on the line in order to save her, but for me it was too little too late. ~ Gwen