In Anticipation: Secrets of the Demon

As December has arrived to round out the year, I've found myself thinking about some of the books that I'm looking forward to in the new year. There are a number that are poised to be released right at the beginning of January, and of those here's one that I'm perhaps the most excited about. That'd be Secrets of the Demon, the third book in Diana Rowland's "Kara Gillian" series, which is urban fantasy and police procedural. Here's a partial book description (as the full description has a teensy spoiler of book 2):

Homicide detective Kara Gillian has a special talent: she can sense the "arcane" in our world, and there's quite a bit of it, even in Beaulac, Louisiana. She's also a summoner of demons, and works on a task force that deals with supernatural crimes. Her partners are attractive and smart FBI agents, but they're not summoners, and they're not telling Kara why they are on this special force with her... she's trying to solve a string of murders that are somehow tied together by money, sex, rock music and...mud. But how can she concentrate on the case when she's not even sure who-or what-her partners are?

I read both books preceding this one, and enjoyed both overall. The first I hadn't absolutely knocked me out (review's here if you're curious about what I mean), but the second book just hooked me, line and sinker. Ms. Rowland is really great at the art of the police procedural. This shouldn't come as a surprise as she's worked as a street cop, a detective, a computer forensics specialist, a crime scene investigator, and a morgue assistant before her books were published. The lady knows about crime, ya'll! ^_^ The scenes related to investigation are so exquisitely detailed, sometimes chillingly so. It integrates well with the paranormal aspect, which comes in the form of Kara and her crew. I'm looking forward to more of those combined elements in this next book, now that a fair bit of world-building has been done.

So, for anyone who's read the first and/or second books, you'll notice that the cover style has changed for this installment. This is actually not surprising, as Secrets of the Demon (and presumably, the books to follow) is being published by DAW, no longer Bantam. New publisher, new cover. While I did really like the original cover style, I LOVE me some Daniel dos Santos...and he's the one who did the artwork for this latest book. I swear, the man can do no wrong. He's rocked all sort of authors' work...and I'm pleased to see him add his touch to this series.
The depicted woman on the cover is a great visualization of Ms. Rowland's descriptions of Kara. I have to admit, she kind of reminds me of the actress Amanda Peet. ^_^ I think that's due to the dark features and striking eyebrows on both females. Pretty ladies, both!

The book is released on January 4, 2011 by DAW Books. Ms. Rowland has an excerpt of the book available on her website (here).