Night Shift [Dramatized Adaptation]

Written by Lilith Saintcrow

Narrated by A Full Cast, James Konicek, David Coyne and 17 more

Not everyone can take on the things that go bump in the night.

Not everyone tries.

But Jill Kismet is not just anyone.

She's a Hunter, trained by the best - and in over her head.

Welcome to the night shift...

• Language: English
• Publisher: GraphicAudio
• Release date: Jun 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9781648794261

Lilith Saintcrow

Lili Saintcrow lives in Vancouver, Washington, with a library for wayward texts.

Reviews for Night Shift [Dramatized Adaptation]

[mlsimmons-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really like Lilith Saintcrow's writing style. I love the police work along with the paranormal. The romance is there, but takes a back seat to the story. I am also a fan of idea that if you do the wrong thing for the right reason is no necessarily wrong. I can't wait to read the next book.

[rivkat_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jill Kismet is a hunter of Hellbreed, demons that make deals and do other bad things; she has her own deal with one Hellbreed for power in return for services that make her feel disgusted with herself. When a rogue Were shows up slaughtering ordinary humans, she has to deal with Hellbreed politics as well as a Were who seems to want more from her than she thinks she can afford to give. Urban fantasy; didn’t move me.

[thelibraryhag · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jill Kismet is the hunter in her town and she has sacrificed a lot. When 5 police officers are mutilated, she knows more than the normal hellbreed are involved. With the help of her friends and some of her enemies, she sets out to protect her town and solve the crimes.This is full on action urban fantasy. Jill is hard edged with a heart. I will definitely be reading the next. I want to see where Jill and the other characters are going.

[skyegirl77 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

love this book. I just fell in love with Jill, her back story is heart wrenching. And the action never stops. This book just ticks all my boxes.

[bookwhisperer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Awesome book. I had one previous introduction to this author, and I was not impressed by that book. This book restored all of my impression of Lilith Saintcrow.This wonderful book was a look into the life of a hunter. Her main priority is to rid the world of hellbreed. The demons of hell that are here to gather as many traders and cause as much corruption as possible. Only Jill Kismet find herself on a trail of hellbreed that is testing her ability. Only as the story unfolds it what she believes may not be the facts. I look forward to reading 'Hunters Prayer', the second Jill Kismet book in this series.

[anotherdarnreader · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I gave this audio book a three star rating because I really liked the story but the narrator was so awful it was a struggle to finish listening to the book. The narrator sounded like someone's crazy drunk grandmother rather than the young(ish) kick ass heroine, Jill Kismet, portrayed by Lilith Saintcrow in the book. I will finish the rest of the series by reading the Nook book editions.

[letora · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This was pretty decent read with the lead character being extremely interesting, but the explanation of the world's rules was lacking which is why I took the rating down a bit. We have a tough chick heroin with a damaged personality who must protect her city from misbehaving hellbreed. Enter the first question, what exactly is a hellbreed? From what I gleaned they are creatures from hell and vary in power levels, but how do they enter the world? Why are they allowed cohabitation with humanity unless they misbehave?Then we learn that Jill has a special eye and powers. Granted we learn how she comes to possess said powers, yet we don't learn much about the limitations she has. I do like the fine line Jill must cross to remain in control of her powers and Perry. However, Saintcrow glosses over how Jill attained her special eye. She hints that Jill received it from hell, but I want to know how. Saintcrow also glosses over what is called a between world. What is it? Jill seems to see the past within it but then again I have no idea, maybe it's hidden truths, there just isn't enough information. I also wanted to know more about the etheric, what exactly it is other than some sort of magic. Is it separate from Jill's enhanced abilities or does she gain control of the etheric because of her enhancements?I love the dark underworld we are exposed to in this book and I am eager to see how Jill evolves, I'm just hoping more explanations pop up or I will continue to give these books low stars.

[spurts-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A little too urban and too violent for me.

[wealhtheowwylfing · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jill Kismet is a Hunter who stalks weres, hellhounds, and those who make deals with devils. The dialog is poor and the "grittiness" Saintcrow strives for is a hackneyed copy of a copy of noir. However, the battle scenes are toe-curling fun, and the world Saintcrow builds is more interesting than in most paranormalromance/urbanfantasy. I look forward to reading more about the demon that loans Jill power.

[drled_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Synopsis: Jill Kismet is a hunter. Her job is to rid the world of hellbreeds and the Traders with whom they deal. Her teacher and mentor, Mikhail was murdered recently, so she is on her own. Unfortunately, Mikhail suggested that she make a deal with the hellbreed, Percy, for extra strength and magical power; Jill isn't sure this was such a good idea. However, she doesn't have time to worry about this decision since there is some sort of crazed killer on the street attacking cops. She has to work with were animals from the FBI to find out just who the killers are and bring them to justice. One of the Feebs is a were whose sister was murdered; although off to a rocky start, Jill and Sam are attracted to each other.Review: Although the relationship is quite predictable, the rest of the story is interesting. There is just enough complexity to make the outcome less than a foregone conclusion.

[leahsimone_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Jill Kismet is a Hunter trained to fight hellbreed. Her mentor and lover recently died leaving her to fight the monsters alone. As a former prostitute, Jill knows the city well and has the survival instincts of a veteran. She also has a demon mark which gives her more power but not without paying a nasty price to the city’s head hellbreed. When the worst murders she has ever seen happen to 5 cops, Jill is called in to team up with a couple of FBI weres and a were tracker. At the scene, Jill scents both rogue were and hellbreed. Knowing the two never mix, she is unable to determine what to make of the combination. As more humans are attacked and killed brutally, Jill uses every resource she has to get more information, always at a cost to herself.This is classic dark urban fantasy fair from Saintcrow. It’s reminiscent of her Dante Valentine Series, however Jill is somewhat less likable and harder to relate to initially. It made for a somewhat arduous first 60 pages or so. It isn’t until Saintcrow gives us more background that the character becomes more interesting. The attraction between Jill and the were tracker is less than exciting though, as it seems to serve as a device for her to process her guilt about her mentor’s death. Grief, despair and a fatalistic attitude make for a depressing ride. Despite this, the story is tight and moves at good clip. Saintcrow’s prose is often compelling and beautiful so it feels real if not exactly satisfying.

[phantasma_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I decided to give Saintcrow another shot after the debacle that was the Dante Valentine novels (loved the first one, tolerated the second, HATED the third, gave up). I loved this book. I HOPE I love the second. Jill Kismet is wonderfully likable. Much more so than Dante ever was. If you gave Saintcrow a shot before and found her lacking, I think with this book she's really hit her stride. Hopefully she keeps it up.

[mbg0312 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Surprisingly entertaining writing by a mainstay of the "urban fantasy" genre. I'll probably pick up more by this author - its a good popcorn read.

[justy_7 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In book one of the Jill Kismet series we meet Jill, the one they call when things go Bump In The Night. She is a stronger than strong woman who can face things the cops don't want to know about. It was fun watching the character of Jill unfold as the book went along. We learn how she became who she is, and how she feels about it. Somewhere along the way, she starts to learn who she is as well. It was an action filled story with something to please any fan of Lilith Saintcrow and Dark Fantasy books.

[jeremypreacher · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As much as I ended up disliking Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series, I really do like this one, and Night Shift is an excellent start. It's pretty far down the line to straight horror, but the kickass female character is engaging and the worldbuilding is fairly tight. The devil's bargain Jill Kismet has made provides a nice throughline, and the individual cases hang together well.

Plus, I don't hate the romance, for once.

[randirousseau · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved it! I thoroughly enjoyed Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series, but almost think I will like this series better.Theming between series is similar - more-than-human protagonist with significant ties to a demon. In this series, however, Jill Kismet (protagonist) is the "cop" for the night-side criminal activities - possessions, demonic trouble, Traders. To help her in this pursuit, Kismet made a deal with the ranking demon in town which gives her additional power.In this story, something is killing cops - something not-quite-Were, not-quite-demon. Can Kismet discover and put a stop to the perpetrator(s) before realizing her own destruction? This book is hard to put down.

[catherinemilos · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I love the character Lilith Saintcrow writes here. She's whole, but with a past. She knows who she is, and she's not embarrassed or ashamed. A strong female hunter character in an urban paranormal world.

[enemyanniemae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

As urban fantasies go, this one was not bad. They all tend to blend into a particular formula, but that's OK. I like a little predictable when I want to read fluff. Night Shift did throw in a few curve balls and that made it all the more interesting. I would recommend the Jill Kismet series to anyone who enjoys a super(naturally) strong female protagonist who kicks serious butt and yet has issues of her own to deal with.

[lara9it · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The plot of the book may not be the most original but I still liked the way the author carried it out.
Jill is like most heroines in urban fantasy's books are portrayed: a girl with a dark past that left scars she doesn't want revealed, a tough façade to match the "bitch" attitude and to hide the insecurities and the low self-esteem. Killer moves are also included. (I'd like to point out that this is not to be read as a critique since I like this type of books, and this type of lead characters, a lot!) However, contrary to some of her colleagues, she doesn't go through a personality transplant when she meets a cute guy and that's a major point to her! I really liked that the relationship between Jill & Saul was developed without the rush most books in the genre usually exploit and, even if romance is a minor focus on the whole book, I think it's one of the thing that contributes to set this book apart from others.

[tynga_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Jill Kismet is a hunter, her job is to exorcise the possessed, and destroys evil things that bumps in the night. She's not bright-white-clean either; she made a deal with a powerful hellbreed to increase her senses, her strength and gives her more power in the hunt. It doesn't come for free though and she owes the hellbreed monthly visit with kinky games. Everything goes to hell when something starts killing cops, lots of them, and weres comes in to help.The novel has a great rhythm, fast pace action and Kismet is definitely entertaining. She has a very difficult past on the streets, and she's very determined to never go back down. After years of killing stuff and defending the innocents, she now has a sick sense of humor highlighted by "Get it? Arf, arf," everytime she shoots a bad joke for herself. Novel is full of very interesting characters and plot is very well built, you hang right on the suspense until the very end. English not being my first language I found the vocabulary a bit harder then what I'm used to, but it didn't interfere with my enjoyment. Bought the second book right when I finished the first one.

[whatsmacksaid · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two and a half stars. It was okay; I don't regret deciding to reread this, and if you like grimdark urban fantasy with lots of good fight scenes this series is definitely your cuppa tea.

[sensitivemuse · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Comparing this with Dante Valentine, they're both almost similar in regards to personality. Tough and able to raise literal hell to track down villains, yet soft and sensitive sides come out when no one's looking (well, almost). I can't really say who I like more as they're both such interesting characters with such horrible pasts and are able to climb out of it and become strong butt kicking characters. I like it how they're not suffering from nyphomania like some paranormal urban fantasy characters I've read about which makes me roll my eyes each time they're mentioned. I love Jill and Dante's wit, their sarcasm, sometimes their thoughts made me laugh out loud, and their reckless impulsive behavior when fighting -it's always exciting to read, and it just seems as if they're not scared to run into a fight with the odds stacked against them. It's also nice to read about a character in which not *every* other character wants to sleep with them (unlike some other urban fantasy novels I've read too)I thought the plot was great, and the action sequences were awesome. There's a lot of action in this book, I found myself reading page after page because it caught my attention and I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Although this is a mystery in this book I couldn't really bring myself to guess who it was, or who was behind everything as all I was concerned with was who Jill was going to fight next. All the pieces fit in together anyway, and the only questions I'm left with is more about Jill's past. I'd like to know more of her and more stories of her and Mikhail. The romance (well budding romance) between Jill and Saul is nice although I find it a little mismatched, it's amusing to see Jill trying to push him away even though it's not what she wants, and Saul can see right through it. I thought it was cute how Saul walks so close to Jill and invades her "personal space" much to her annoyance. In a way, I think they're right for each other, but in other ways I don't think so..they're just so different, perhaps because you don't know much about Saul and his character isn't really that developed in the book. Perhaps in future books....The only criticism I could give is, although the action is nice, it just seems like one huge adrenalin rush and the writing just feels haphazard. Then again it could be just me that feels this way. Overall an excellent book if you're looking for a strong character, a good exciting plot, and plenty of fighting scenes to get you turning page after page.

[lewispike · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the first of Lilith Saintcrow's books I've read and I've got to say I'm impressed.She establishes, quickly and efficiently, a world like ours but a bit different - Hellbreed (demons) wander around and make deals with Traders (stupid humans) for their souls. Exorcists are licensed and the police station has an extra layer of holding cells for the possessed. Many kinds of were are around too.Balancing between all of this and normal world is Jill Kismet, a hunter - a trained human who keeps the Hellbreed in check. She helps the police, protects the human world from the things that go bump in the night. So far this could be a slight twist on any of a range of urban fantasy stories. But this reads more like gory horror than fantasy - there are numerous really quite unpleasant crime scenes for example. And Jill has a sort of secret: she's made a deal with the local chief of the Hellbreed: she's not sold her soul but he keeps trying to get her to damn herself she has to keep her wits about her to stop it - even in middle of the climactic fight scene.The fight scenes could be somewhat better but they're not what really drives this book which is a mixture between Jill's memories and regrets about how she got here, the sparring with Pericles to get information without selling her soul, and the combination of investigating the crime and protecting "her city" the best she can. It works nicely and I'm looking forward to book 2 in the series next week.

[lizparker_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of my all time favourite fantasy series. Jill Kismet is a hunter based in her own city of Santa Luz. Her job is to keep the demon population in line and to stop the nightside from spilling over into the "normal" world. I have never before read of such a strong kickass female lead before this series. Its the kind of read where the story is like a movie running in your head and you can almost smell the blood and hear the screams. I for one am totally hooked and highly recomend this series to anyone regardless of their usual preferences.

[pstotts_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In today’s fantasy/sci-fi market, the popularity and proliferation of urban fantasy novels is staggering. Maybe it only seems this way, but every second book in the fantasy section at the local bookseller appears to reside in this subgenre. This wouldn’t be much of a problem if the majority of them were actually good. For every Charlie Huston who pumps out great, original vampire-noir fantasy, there are hundreds of authors writing essentially similar variations on the same idea: a super powered hero or heroine altruistically fighting for humanity against the things that go bump in the night. This gives many of these novels a “me-too” feeling, as if they are all being written to capitalize on the popularity of the market and not to tell an interesting story. Urban fantasy is essentially a Western for a new generation, filled with horrible hell spawned monsters instead of gunslingers and outlaws. The hero, like the cowboy of old, is a loner who stands tall against overwhelming evil forces, surviving only by his smarts and resourcefulness. (Just once I’d like to see a hero survive from pure dumb luck, and have a whole slew of Myspace friends to boot!) Well, the newest novel to grab this template and start happily frolicking down the urban fantasy path is Lilith Saintcrow’s “Night Shift”.Saintcrow takes a big narrative chunk out of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” for “Night Shift”. Jill Kismet is a specially-trained, super powered hunter who tracks down and slays demons or Hellbreed. She’s basically a Buffy for demons, as she’s all that stands between us and the demons that go bump in the corridors of Hell. Jill doesn’t hunt demons on the sly though, as the police are well aware of both her existence and the existence of the Hellbreed, and employ her frequently as a consultant. So when an unusual case pops up, it isn’t long before Jill gets a call from the local precinct.One of these calls for Jill is for the grisly murder of five cops, their bodies torn apart and mutilated. The fatal wounds puzzle her though, as they appear to have been inflicted by a Hellbreed and Were (a human that transforms in an animal form) working together. This seems impossible since Hellbreeds and Weres are mortal enemies. Showing up on the case soon after are Jill’s two friends, Harper and Dominic, who happen to be FBI agents, and more surprisingly, Weres. Coincidentally, Harper and Dominic have been tracking the murderous Were along with Saul Dustcircle, another Were whose sister was murdered by the rogue beast. Jill and her friends set off to solve the mystery of the rogue Were and why it’s working with a Hellbreed. This leads Jill deeper and deeper into dangerous waters where she must use everything in her power to survive. But what will Jill have to sacrifice to bring the murderers to justice?The story is thin and uninspired with slow pacing that is used to artificially elongate the novel. There really isn’t much story here as the hunt for the murderers is quite straightforward and lacks any interesting twists or turns. Until the ending, Jill’s multiple confrontations with the villains end with her catching a significant beating and then losing them in the process. Saintcrow tries for a hard-edged, gritty tone in the material and characters, which is fairly successful, though Jill is whineier than tough and street-wise. The descriptions are repetitive; there are a slew of passages describing the blood and sweat caked on her and her clothes as well as the tingling of her scar. For some reason, Saintcrow seems obsessed with the crackling of caked blood.Last Word:There wasn’t much in “Night Shift” to grab my interest, and by the end, I was just waiting for the book to end. The story was just too mundane and predictable with a weak conclusion that only offered a meager payoff. Lilith Saintcrow has unfortunately failed to elevate it above the teeming masses of “me-too” urban fantasy out there. Overall, “Night Shift” is disappointedly mediocre.

[t_k_elliott · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The real question is, what took me so long to get around to reading this book?

What I Liked
I thought Jill was great. Saintcrow has managed to write an urban fantasy heroine who is confident and independent, yet human. She has also managed to avoid writing an MC who is the kind of bitch you'd never want to work with: you know the type - the kind that makes every personal interaction into some kind of pissing contest, is rude to everyone (but thinks she's funny), and still manages to twist her ankle when the hot guy from Finance comes round...

Jill has friends and colleagues, which is pretty unusual for an urban fantasy heroine; she gets invited out for beer, and she is respected by co-workers. All in all, she comes across as a woman who does a dangerous job well.

Another thing I liked is that Jill gets her ass kicked several times - and she ends up in pain, pissed off, and exhausted. Even though, for magical reasons, she can take more of a kicking than most humans, she doesn't get off scot-free. You don't get the situations where she's beaten up in one scene, and then the next, you'd never know it had happened.

Perry - now, I really wanted to know more about Perry...

The plot moved along at a fair clip, keeping me swept up in events. If this hadn't been such a busy week, I would probably have read this in one or two sittings.

What I Could Have Done With More Of
I would have liked a bit more background on the worldbuilding - what are the hellbreed, where do they come from, and why are they here? That sort of thing. However, I would not regard this as a serious problem: we get enough information to figure out what's going on, and presumably we'll get more background later on in the series (this book's background details mostly dealt with Jill and her history, which is reasonable enough).

Conclusion
I've already bought the Omnibus edition of this series, and I've jumped Saintcrow's Dante Valentine series up my reading list...

This is the new (to me) urban fantasy series I've been looking for for a long time!