When one of Vicky's clients winds up dead the same night she had killed the demons in his nightmares, she is called to the police station.  Thankfully, the police don't suspect Vicky of the murder.  However, when she realizes what they do want—her expertise—her world begins to crumble.  As details of the crime are presented, Vicky realizes that Boston is in grave danger. Likely, it's all her fault.  The demon who killed her client is the exact same one who took out Vicky's father – after Vicky accidentally summoned it.

Once she realizes the demon has made it through the protective boundaries of the city proper, Vicky knows their time is short.  Finding the sorcerer who summoned him will prove difficult. Since Vicky herself was poisoned by the demon at the time of her father's death, she finds fighting it physically limiting.

From her blossoming politician kinda boyfriend, Kane, to her teenage zombie apprentice and vampire roommate Juliet (who may or may not have been the inspiration for Shakespeare's tragedy), Vicky is surrounded by a wacky yet oddly believable supporting cast.  Holzner is the first, in my opinion, to manage to mix her chick lit in with a paranormal suspense.  Vicky certainly has her moments of girly-girl and cutesie-pie, but under it all she's a mess of conflicting layers that make a good heroine.  Her nemesis in this novel, the Hellion Difethwr, leaves a little to be desired, but the author makes Vicky's fear vivid and real.  She's gutsy and brainy and mouthy with just enough wishy-wash under it all to make her seem like your average woman.

Holzner's alternate-reality Boston area is reminiscent of Kim Harrison's The Hollows series. People of a paranormal origin are driven into the limelight due to some nasty bug and the premise for the series is the humans coming to terms with their nightmares and horror stories becoming a reality.  Like Harrison, Holzner does a fine job of highlighting the differences in her species all the while making it clear that they're people much like their human counterparts. Vicky's choice in men is a little better than Rachel Morgan's however; Alexander Kane, werewolf lawyer politico and Detective Costello, one of the leads in the homicides are the objects of her affections, and readers will find both satisfying, if not overly stimulating.  We can look forward to other books in the series which will hopefully let readers in on more of the history of Vicky's rare race as well as get a little more in-depth on her interpersonal relationships.  In the meantime, enjoy Deadtown and its no-holds-barred heroine.

--Sarrah Knight