The Demon's Wife

By Rick Hautala

Claire McMullen is just an ordinary woman -- until you look at her long, beautiful bright-red hair. She has a job she hates, a roommate she tolerates, and she spends her weekend nights bar-hopping, looking for her “Mr. Right.” One cold, rainy night she meets Samael -- tall, dark, handsome and rich -- and a romance blossoms.  Claire thinks she may have found her soulmate -- until Samael informs Claire that he’s actually a demon. Can Claire trust a demon’s claims of true love—or is he just plotting after her immortal soul? Can a demon even feel true love, and if so… What are the consequences of such a love for both Hell and Heaven?

• Language: English
• Publisher: JournalStone
• Release date: Aug 16, 2013
• ISBN: 9781936564989

Book preview

The Demon’s

Wife

A Novel of the Supernatural and Attempted Redemption

By

Rick Hautala

JournalStone

San Francisco

Copyright © 2013 by Rick Hautala

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

JournalStone books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

JournalStone

www.journalstone.com

www.journal-store.com

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

ISBN:                     978-1-936564-95-8            (sc)

ISBN:                     978-1-936564-98-9            (ebook)

JournalStone rev. date:  September 13, 2013

ISBN:                     978-1-936564-97-2            (hc)

JournalStone rev. date:  August 16, 2013

Library of Congress Control Number:              2013941615

Printed in the United States of America

Cover Design:       Denise Daniel

Cover Art:             M. Wayne Miller

Edited by:              Norman Rubenstein

Dedication

This book has got to be dedicated to Holly, who edited this book—and lives with me—with love, patience, and understanding.

I don’t know how you do it.

Also, a special shout out to Hank Schwaeble who helped me out of a legal jam …

Thank God it was a fictional one

Endorsements

"The Demon’s Wife asks the question What do you expect when you marry a demon? Rick Hautala answers that question with harrowing suspense, dark mystery, and masterful plotting. Not many women can say they're in love--or lust--with a man who has a tail, but Claire McMullen can. This DEMON has style, sensuality and soul."  — Robert McCammon

"The Demon’s Wife is wonderfully entertaining and entirely compelling, a horrifying and heartfelt urban fantasy sure to appeal to fans of Charlaine Harris and Kelley Armstrong.  Cloaked inside this dark, frightening tale is horror legend Rick Hautala's surprising treatise on the purifying, redemptive power of love." — Christopher Golden, New York Times best-selling co-author of Joe Golem and the Drowning City and Father Gaetano's Puppet Catechism

"Rich in detail, and with a unique and devilishly good premise, Rick Hautala’s The Demon’s Wife is a completely compelling journey into a most-unusual marriage of the supernatural and earthly. A master of horror, Hautala conjures up twists and turns that will keep readers guessing what will happen next to the demon’s wife, Claire, and her very different husband, as the pages go flying by."           — Matthew Costello, Author of Vacation and Home

"The Demon’s Wife is a sly examination of the strangest marriage you will ever see. It’s a fast-paced, mordant examination of contemporary relationships, full of clever twists and irreverent reversals that turn the ideas of love and standard theology inside-out. Echoes of Wodehouse and Sheckley resonate through the pages. A fitting capstone to a magical career." — Thomas F. Monteleone,  4-time Bram Stoker Award winner

THE DEMON’S WIFE is a brilliant, chilling, mind-blowing and heart-stopping novel of horror and magic. A superb novel, first page to last. – Jonathan Maberry, New York Times best-selling author of EXTINCTION MACHINE and FIRE & ASH.

Quirky, funny, frightening, and romantic, THE DEMON'S WIFE would have been right at home in that paragon of pulp magazines, John Campbell's UNKNOWN (and there is no higher praise for fantasy). Reminiscent of John Collier, Thorne Smith, and Roald Dahl at their most wicked, the tale turns on a dime from charming to chilling as it asks the eternal question, 'How far are we willing to go for love?' — Chet Williamson

Chapter

1

Enter Samael

Now, Claire McMullen says she might never have married Samael if she had known that he was a demon. Then again, his demonic nature might be what attracted her to him in the first place. He certainly had devilishly good looks—impeccably dressed with long, dark hair, even darker eyes, a terrific build, and a smile that captivated both women and men, in various ways.  She didn’t find out about the tail until later.

Of course, it’s easy for her to say that now but at the beginning, back when neither she nor anyone else knew how things would eventually turn out, it was quite another story.

Picture this, because it’s all too easy:

Claire was in her early thirties. She was tall and lanky—not skinny—with pale, freckled skin and round blue eyes. The only thing she liked about herself was her hair—a long, thick mass of curly tangles so bright red people often thought it wasn’t her natural color. Her hair was the first thing about her that Samael noticed.

She also had a job she hated, a roommate she…tolerated. She also had a mountain of debt—mostly from college loans—that she had concluded was never going to be paid off. She also had, of course, the usual expenses for room and board, electricity, heat, cell phone, Internet, and weekend nights bar-hopping around Portland, always on the prowl for Mr. Right…or at least Mr. Right Now.

Let’s consider her job for a moment.

For the past seven years, she had worked as a purchasing agent for Montressor, a chemical company in South Portland, Maine. What this had to do with her degree in Communications from Ithaca College, in upstate New York, she had no idea. Then again, most of the friends she was still in touch with from college had jobs that had absolutely nothing to do with their majors. The best writer in her class—Ally Dixon—was working as a nanny for a doctor in Austin, Texas. At least Claire hadn’t studied the bottom of beer and booze bottles, like many of her college friends. With the background she’d had growing up in Aroostook County, Maine, and wanting so desperately to escape, she studied harder than most students. To offset the need for student loans, she had worked part-time in a donut shop—Tony’s Donuts—in downtown Ithaca for three years, summers included. To this day, the smell of fresh-baked donuts never failed to nauseate her.

So five days a week, from seven o’clock in the morning until four o’clock in the afternoon, she sat in an office not much bigger than a broom closet. There were no windows, and her only lifelines to the real world were cruising Facebook and listening to WXPN, a radio station from Philly that she streamed over the computer, no matter how many times Marty, her boss, told her not to because she was taking up too much of the company’s bandwidth.

After another seemingly endless day in a seemingly endless parade of days in what amounted to little more than an experiment in sensory deprivation, she would come home to the small apartment on Congress Street that she shared with Sally Lewis.

Sally was, as they say, a piece of work. She had grown up in a rich family in Cape Elizabeth, and never seemed to lack money even though her current job as a bookstore manager didn’t pay all that well, considering how hard she worked.

Claire hadn’t always felt this distance with Sally. In fact, they had been close friends for several years, back when Claire had first moved to Portland to be closer to Billy Carroll, her boyfriend at the time. That hadn’t turned out as well as she had hoped. Most relationships don’t, right? But once she was back in Maine—something she had vowed to avoid—a kind of inertia set in, and she…well, she simply stayed here now that she was familiar with the city. At least she hadn’t moved back home to the County.

Claire met Sally when she had worked part-time over Christmas at the local Borders bookstore. Sally was a manager there, although year after year, her job looked increasingly shaky, what with the economy and people not buying books like they used to. She kept threatening to pack up and move—maybe to Florida or some Caribbean island. More and more, Claire wished Sally would do exactly that, even though she had no idea how she’d make the rent without a roommate. She didn’t have many friends locally, and she didn’t like the idea of searching for a new roomie on Craigslist or whatever—

 And she hadn’t forgotten about the Craigslist Killer either.

In spite of her bluster and job insecurity, Sally stayed where she was—in the apartment and at Borders—and Claire stayed where she was.

On weekends, like I said, they went out. Sometimes they went with friends of Sally’s from the bookstore. Sometimes it was just the two of them. On the night she met Samael, it was just the two of them.

It was Sally, in fact, who first noticed him that night at Margarita’s Grille. They had tickets to see The Economy, a local band that had made it nationally and was playing a coming home gig at the Civic Center. Before the show, they decided to grab a quick bite to eat and have something to drink.

That’s when they wandered into the bar.

At the time they met him, neither one of them knew that he spelled his name Samael. That might have given her a hint of his demonic nature, too, but how could she have known? They could have Googled the name, perhaps, but no one expects to meet an actual demon, face to face…not in a city like Portland, Maine. New York City? Sure. No problem. Both of them assumed he spelled his name the usual way: Samuel, even though he pronounced it without the U.

Sam-a-el.

On the night they met, Sally tried calling him Sam a few times. It irked Claire, but as the drinks flowed, Sally even tried Sammy once or twice. To Claire, it didn’t sound at all right. He was definitely not a Sam much less a Sammy. He appeared not to appreciate being called that, either. After Sally used the nickname a few more times, Samael politely—but firmly—corrected her—once—and asked that she please use his full name, Samael, and to pronounce it correctly. He even wrote it down on a bar napkin…along with his telephone number, which he slid over to Claire.

Claire experienced a thrill when he scooted his chair closer to her.

So what do you do? he asked. His dark eyes were focused on her…a little too intently, maybe?

Not much.

I manage the Borders, Sally chimed in. Believe me. I could tell you stories.

Go on, Claire, Samael said, still staring at her like she was the only woman in the bar.

Claire sighed. I work as a purchasing agent for a local chemical company. I order the stuff they put into your drinking water and the salt they spread on the roads in winter. It’s a soul-sucking job.

Samael chuckled, and Claire was concerned she had said something wrong.

Interesting choice of words, he said as if to allay her embarrassment. ’Soul-sucking.’ Nice turn of phrase. I like it.

Talk about ‘soul-sucking, ’’’ Sally went on, all but wedging herself between Claire and Samael. I should tell you about this one guy last week." As she launched into a detailed rendition of one of the barely literate idiots who worked for her, much less patronized the store, Claire noticed that Samael barely listened to her. His dark eyes—which, in this lighting, now appeared to be flecked with gold—never left hers. She should have felt uncomfortable, but she didn’t.

While they were both trying their best to ignore Sally, Claire felt a subtle tug on her hair and glanced over at her shoulder to see that Samael had curled a lock of her red hair around his forefinger and was twirling it like spaghetti on a fork. She shot him a ‘What the fuck?’ look, but he simply smiled at her.

And the truth was, she didn’t mind in the least.

Claire wasn’t the kind of girl who took a man home on the first date, no matter what…and this wasn’t even a date. She and Sally had first noticed Samael sitting in the bar with either a friend or business colleague, and they had made a point of sitting where he couldn’t help but notice them.

And it worked.

His business partner or friend left, and Samael came over to their table and introduced himself. He took a seat at their table as if he owned the place, and his lines were the smoothest Claire had ever heard…and she had heard plenty. It was obvious from the get-go that he had money and wasn’t simply pretending to have it. Having grown up poorer than poor, Claire could always tell the real money from the fake.

Claire caught the signals from Sally that she wanted to sink her hooks into this guy. She was the kind of girl who would take a man home on the first night, date or no date. But Samael made it clear that he was much more interested in Claire. After he excused himself and left, saying he had to go home but hoped to see them again—both women watching him go and admiring his broad shoulders and slim hips, Sally turned to Claire.

I dunno…I mean, he looks good…tasty, but…I’d say he’s kind of a dickhead.

Claire was still staring at the door he had used to exit the bar. She had the weirdest sensation that he hadn’t walked out into the night, but that he had vanished…like a magician in a puff of smoke. His face—that smile…and those eyes!—were seared into her memory. She barely paid attention to what her friend was saying.

Claire? … Are you listening to me?

Claire shook her head, feeling like she was just waking up, and everything was hazy. She looked at Sally.

Huh?

I said… Sally leaned close and looked around as if suspicious that Samael was lingering nearby and would overhear her. I think he’s kind of a dickhead.

I don’t think so, Claire said. She took a slow sip of her mojito and looked longingly at the door as if expecting—wishing he would reappear in the doorway, walk over to her table, and sweep her off into the night. The napkin with his name and phone number on it was a wrinkled wad in her sweaty palm.

I don’t know, was all she said as she looked down and flattened out the napkin, relieved to see that the name and number were still legible. She suspected Sally was reading a lot more into what she said and did, but she didn’t care.

I mean, Sally went on, come on. The clothes, the haircut, the tan…in the middle of March? In Maine? She snorted. All too perfect. Who’s he think he’s kidding?

Claire felt an urge to rise to Samael’s defense, but she let Sally’s snarky comments lie where they fell.

Go ahead and talk yourself right out of any interest in him. That leaves the field wide-open for me.

 Sally took out her cell phone and glanced at the time.

Think we should get going?

Claire considered, took another sip of her drink, emptying her glass, and then nodded. She could sit here all night, and that wasn’t going to bring Samael back into the bar…Not tonight. But she had his phone number, and she damned well intended to call him. Not tonight. Maybe not even tomorrow. There was no point in looking desperate. That’d scare him away. Definitely, she’d call him soon. She was smiling as she slipped the napkin into her coat pocket. Then she slung her purse over her shoulder.

Both women kicked back their chairs and stood up. Claire started walking toward the door, thinking how foolish it was to get excited, thinking that she’d soon be touching the same door latch Samael had just touched. No one else had left the bar since he had left, so she’d have direct contact with something he had touched.

What are you, crazy, thinking like this?

I gotta use the little girls’ room, Sally said.

I’ll meet you outside, Claire said, not wanting anyone else to touch the door before she did. She looked straight ahead as she walked to the door and, feeling a curious tingling thrill inside, put her hand on the latch and pressed it down. The lock clicked, the door opened, and a cool, damp breeze blew into her face, raising goosebumps on her arms as she stepped outside.

The parking lot was empty except for three cars. Not a rocking night tonight. The surrounding streetlights cast a cold, eerie blue glow onto the pavement and the remnants of the last snowfall. Hopefully, that had been the last storm of the winter, Claire thought, but knowing Maine, there could be a blizzard in May. At the far end of the parking lot, she noticed a black Mercedes, and the foolish hope—conviction?—that this was Samael’s car and that he was waiting for her to come outside filled her. It certainly looked as though someone was sitting in the driver’s seat, but at this distance and in the darkness, it was impossible to be sure.

Claire felt suddenly isolated and vulnerable as she looked around, certain, now, that if not Samael, then someone was watching her from the shadows. The street was unusually quiet, but on a cold night like this, what would you expect? The distant sound of traffic passing by on I-295 sounded like tearing paper. Claire sidled over to the side of the restaurant and looked around, avoiding the bright lights because it made her feel like she stood out all the more. If she smoked, this is when she would have lit up. A peculiar emptiness…a sense of disappointment or of something irretrievably lost filled her, making her feel hollow inside.

She glanced at the door, then at her wristwatch, then at the door again, expecting Sally to come out of the restaurant any second now, but there was no sign of her.

What’s taking her so damned long?

Claire had the disquieting feeling that, for whatever reason, Sally had ditched her. She started walking, pacing back and forth under the awning as icy tension wound up inside her. She thought maybe she should go back inside and use the restroom, too.

No…I can wait.

Instead of going back inside, she increased her pacing, fighting the feeling that somewhere…out there…in the darkness…someone was watching every step she took. The rhythm to the oldies song by The Police began to play in her head.

Every move you make…

Stop it, she whispered to herself, her breath coming out a mist.

But no matter where she looked or what she thought about, the unsettling feelings only got worse.

Finally, the restaurant door opened. Claire jumped and turned to look, expecting to see Sally, but she stepped to one side, disappointed, when a couple exited instead. Her back was to the wall, but she didn’t realize she was standing at the corner of the building, almost in the darkness—when a rough hand clapped over her mouth, and a strong arm wrapped around her stomach, tightening so hard it forced the wind from her lungs.

Make a sound, and you’re dead, a man’s voice whispered.

~ * ~

One of her shoes flipped off her foot as the man dragged her backwards, into the darkness beside the building. She had a brief sensation of vertigo, like she was falling backwards, spinning down into darkness. The most vivid detail she remembered later was the stench of the man’s breath, which smelled like rotten onions and was as hot as a furnace on the side of her face. Because his hand was covering her mouth, any sounds she was making were smothered. Snot blew from her nose. Later, she thought she remembered hearing the sharp, pained whimpering of a dog that might have been hit by a car or something.  She never could believe that such a sound had come from her.

She clawed at his hand, trying to pull it off so she could scream. She kicked his shins as hard as she could but couldn’t get enough oomph behind it. She wiggled and thrashed from side to side, but he seemed to be supernaturally strong. It was like struggling to lift a gigantic rock.

Claire wasn’t a weakling. She worked out…irregularly, but she had never felt so overwhelmed and helpless in her life. Fury and fear rose up inside her as she squirmed and fought and gasped for air…all to no avail.

The man’s other hand was all over her. Touching, rubbing, squeezing painfully. By the time he took his meaty paw off her mouth, she was too exhausted to cry out. He zipped the front of her coat down and reached inside, squeezing her breasts again, so hard the pain brought tears to her eyes. He grabbed the front of her blouse and ripped it down with a quick, savage movement. Buttons flew in all directions. She heard them clatter on the pavement like tumbling dice.

This is it…He’s gonna kill me, was her only clear thought as tears of frustration burned her eyes.

But then something extraordinary happened.

Her assailant went suddenly limp. The bear hug he had on her relaxed, and he slumped forward. His chin dug painfully into her neck, and the stench of his breath was suddenly whisked away by cold, fresh air. Claire lurched to one side, shaking herself free of the man’s arms. Even in the darkness, she could see that his eyes were rolled back in his head. They glistened like soft-boiled eggs, bulging from their sockets. His mouth dropped to one side, and he looked for all the world like he was having a stroke.

Where am…What?…I didn’t…

He stared at his hands as though amazed that they were part of him.

I…I never…

Then he sank slowly to his knees like a collapsing accordion. When his knees hit the pavement, he rolled his head to the side and stared up at Claire.

I’m…so…sorry, was all he said before pitching forward. I…didn’t do it… It wasn’t me…

His face and chest hit the pavement at the same instant, making a loud thwacking sound that, Claire later found out when she testified against him in court, broke two of his front teeth.

While Claire was still trying to process what was happening, another figure—in the darkness, she had no idea who—rushed around the side of the building and grabbed her by both arms.

Are you all right? Did he hurt you?

Claire shook her head, still having trouble focusing, but how could she forget that voice?

Samael? she said. Where did you—

And that was all.

She collapsed into his arms, and he held her, trembling as adrenalin washed through her system. He made soft cooing noises into her ear as he stroked her back and shoulders. She buried her face into the crook of his neck, only distantly aware of the faint smoky smell that clung to him.

He must be a smoker, she remembered thinking crazily, and she imagined he was a fire blazing in a fireplace—warm…comforting...

After a while—she had no idea how long—she got a grip and began to calm down…enough, at least, so she could pull back and look up at him. Even in the dimly lit alley beside the restaurant, she was entranced by the sculpted perfection of his face.

And his eyes!

Good Lord, they glowed in the darkness with a golden light that she found more intoxicating than the three mojitos she’d consumed. His arms tightened around her, and he smiled.

Oh my God!…Oh my God!

Sally’s voice pierced the night at the same time as a police siren started wailing in the distance.

What happened?…Are you all right?

As painful as it was to break off the embrace, she turned to see her roommate running toward her with something other than her purse in her hand.  Only much later did she realize it was the shoe that had flipped off her foot when the man first grabbed her. She had cut her left foot on something—probably broken glass—behind the restaurant.

Speaking of the man who had assailed her, he was still down for the count, lying with his head cocked to one side and looking like he was deep asleep. A pool of dark liquid spread from his nose onto the pavement, looking like spilled India ink.

Samael still had his hand on Claire’s shoulder as she turned to Sally and nodded. The most she could do was grunt and nod. When Sally moved closer, though, something peculiar happened. Claire felt a sudden surge of protectiveness, as if she had to keep her away from Samael.

Did he…? Oh, my God, Claire!

Sally appeared to be more upset than Claire, but then again, that was Sally’s MO, and Claire was no doubt still in shock. The full impact of what had just happened—and what could have happened—wouldn’t hit her until much later that night, when she was trying to fall asleep.

I—I’m fine… Claire said, panting and shaking her head up and down. I just… He…He came out of nowhere, and—No, Samael didn’t try to hurt me.

She was amazed to hear how distant and fragile her voice sounded.  It was like listening to someone else talking. Even the sound of her breathing and the rapid expansion and contraction of her chest seemed oddly foreign. No doubt, she was just beginning to realize how close she had come to experiencing some genuine horrors she didn’t even want to try to comprehend.

As she was speaking, and as Sally fussed about what had just happened, Claire clutched her blouse, pulling it closed to cover herself. The night air was cold on her face, and her teeth chattered as she shivered. The skin on her shoulders and back burned from her assailant trying to yank off her bra. Her stomach dropped when the police cruiser pulled into the parking lot, its siren wailing and its emergency lights flashing bright blue.

The man on the ground made a watery moaning sound and then stirred, sliding his hands under himself as if preparing to get up.  Samael casually placed the toe of his shoe on the man’s back and pressed him down hard enough so the man’s face slammed against the pavement with a thud that sounded like a watermelon hitting the ground.

You’re not going anywhere—except to jail, Samael said. His voice was low and casual. Claire couldn’t help but be impressed by his command of the situation. Even after the patrolmen got out of the cruiser and hurried over, Samael seemed to be the one in control. Claire watched in stunned silence, all too aware of Samael’s arm resting lightly around her waist as the cops cuffed the assailant and loaded him into the back of the cruiser.

One thing that struck Claire as odd was her assailant’s total compliance. Once he was on his feet, he gawked around as if looking for a clue as to what the hubbub was all about. What was happening? His nose was spewing blood, and his broken teeth and lips were covered with blood, but he made no move to wipe it away. He looked completely dazed, and who would blame him, after getting his face smacked so hard against the pavement?

Claire was left wondering why the man had let her go so suddenly.

Had he had a sudden jolt of guilt or remorse about what he was doing?

Is that why he’d said, It wasn’t me?

Or had Samael come around the corner at that point, and the man, realizing he’d been caught in the act, had given up?

But why hadn’t he tried to get away?

And how had Samael known what was going on behind the restaurant?

How had he appeared so fast? Hadn’t he already left to go home…unless he had been waiting out in the parking lot for her to leave?

The exact sequence of events was a blur, and her stomach sank when one of the patrolmen—his badge read Officer Tompkins—came up to her and asked, You all right?

He shined a flashlight into her face. It was so bright Claire had to squint and shield her eyes. She nodded and made a funny little gasping sound, but anything she might have wanted to say was stuck somewhere deep down in her throat.

Samael was still standing beside her, holding her close to him. His body heat was amazing. When he shifted from one foot to the other as if to break contact with her, she was suddenly fearful that she would fall down without his support. Her left foot had a hot, dull pain. Glancing at Samael, Claire once again was struck by the intense brightness of his eyes in the darkened alleyway. She felt a wave of shame when she wondered what his eyes would look like in her bedroom…with a single candle burning…after they had made love.

Stop it!…Jesus, don’t think such crazy thoughts…Keep focused here.

But there was no way she could sort it out and make sense of what had just happened. Her last clear memory was of Sally, telling her she had to use the restroom and then waiting in the parking lot, feeling creeped out. After that, everything got jumbled up. It was like she was drunk and spinning around wildly on a merry-go-round. Fragments and images flashed across her mind with the speed of lightning that blended together and dissolved before she could register any of them.

Then…Samael.

An ambulance is on the way, Officer Tompkins said, angling his light away from her eyes. Claire let out a moan and started shaking her head.

No, I—I’m all right…I don’t need to go to—

She didn’t finish her sentence because, when she took a step back, she finally felt the full pain of the gash on her left foot. She would have fallen

Reviews for The Demon's Wife

[katie.loughlin · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The characters were one-dimensional and the erotic scenes were off-putting (sudden usage of a demon tail as a sex toy without any build-up). Sex scenes went from zero to 100. If you're not into sexually explicit books, I would look for something else.

[jjmcgaffey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well-written and awful. The descriptions are vivid and explicit - of things I really don't want to read about. Not just the sex (though that was explicit and weird), but, for instance, a detailed description of someone vomiting. Ugh. The foreshadowing (if you can call it that) is extremely heavy-handed - in the first couple chapters, we are reminded over and over (and over and over and...) that Samael is a demon and that Claire doesn't know. Once she finds out, there are more reminders of stuff that we-the-readers know that one or more characters doesn't. That's extremely annoying. But the thing that made me stop reading and start skimming was that Samael, unlike demons in most urban fantasies, is not depicted as a reasonably good guy with a nasty job - he truly enjoys seeing, and causing, pain. Claire's obsession with him doesn't read like love - it reads much more like he's controlling her, though he says he's not (but demons lie). And a _lot_ of tell-not-show - as far as I got we are told over and over that Samael wants to reform, or will want to. There's nothing in his behavior that shows it, though. I couldn't handle the story. I did read - skim - all the way to the end; I saw some of the later events, but it didn't change my opinion. Didn't enjoy it at all, and will avoid other books by Hautala.

[antmusic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A posthumous release and very different for Rick Hautala. There's a lot of humor in this one. Try it out!

[silverlily26 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Overall i enjoyed this book, but then i enjoy supernatural romance. I liked the use of demon/angel beings in this story, my only draw back was the whole story just felt a little rushed, much like the romance within.

[shannon_lee_brown · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Demon's Wife is an erotic story between a demon named Samael, and a business woman, Claire. One night, Claire and her best friend Sally go to see a local band, and decide to stop by a bar before the concert begins. When Claire was supposed to meet Sally in the parking lot behind the bar, she is attacked by a stranger and thought her life was soon to be over. To her surprise, she is saved by "an angel" named Samael, who in reality is nothing but an angel. When Claire learns that Samael is truly a demon, she tries to show him the good experiences that he is missing, and hopes that one day he will no longer be haunted by the Evil side. The ending has a twist where the reader may be surprised to learn the fate between Claire and Samael, as we know that demons can't be good or handsome all the time. The story between these two characters and the obstacles they encounter has the reader asking, "does Claire get to be The Demon's Wife?"

[crazy_bunny_lady · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good book, fast read. I enjoyed it.

[bookwyrmm_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is a fun and unique read about a demon wanting to go good for a woman. The story is intricate, but the ending seems rushed and just not fully formed.

[scerasoli-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an early review.. Write. Well enough to keep me reading it but a highly unusual story. If not into super natural You won't like it.

[sadiesforsythe · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was an alright read, but I never really clicked with it. I thought Samael came across as flat and, even though Claire was strong enough to stand by her man, she far too easily accepted the lack of information. I did wonder more than once, 'why Claire?' The sudden love was never explained. I also found the narrative repetitive and thought that the ending started to feel very much like a piece of Christian Fiction. There were just too many cautionary passages on the dangers of allowing evil into your life and the power go agape. I did think the idea of demonic redemption was an interesting one and Samael's tail gave me all sorts of wicked thoughts. I also enjoyed Hautala's writing style. So, while not one of my favourites, not a bad book either. note: I won my copy here on LibraryThing

[ozrkgirlie · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Ok this book was very difficult for me to keep reading. The whole thing from start to finish just kept making me want to put it away and not pick it back up again. I dont know if it was the way Samael acted or the way Claire reacted but the book itself needed more for me to say I would read more from this author. I read it the whole way through as promised but did not really enjoy it. Kept thinking "really??? this is what is happening"

[trundlebear-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.I had a very hard time getting into this book and staying with it. I was expecting a Romance from the title and cover, but it most definitely is not that -- the protagonist is not a very likable character and the undertones of sexism and hatred towards women throughout the book left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I get that Samael is a demon and therefore bad, but there are other ways of showing it, and despite his sudden reversal from hatred into insta-love with Clare didn't change the tone of the book that women are just stupid and worthless. If I had to categorize this, I'd likely put it in urban fantasy, with a lot of male wish fulfillment.Not for me, despite also enjoying UF/SF/F, but maybe someone else will enjoy this.

[dstawarz-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This was a hard book for the to get into, but after awhile it was ok and stayed about the same. Thanks for a chance to read it.

[enrique_molinero_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

You can tell this book is a fantasy... not because of the demons and angels but because of the utter cliché of a bad man just needing a women's love to turn from the dark path to the light. And that might be forgivable if the book was well-written enough to cover for it but we're simply told our two main characters are in love, we're not really given great reasons for it to happen and certainly not as fast as it happens which makes it tough to push through what is relatively slight novel. On the plus side of the equation, tail sex! But if that's not your thing you're probably better off avoiding this one.

[richhayes · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Claire McMullen went out clubbing with her friend and roommate Sally, the last person she expected to meet was someone like Samael. Later that night when she was attacked in the club parking lot, Samael was the one who saved her. Then it seemed like everywhere she went, there was Samael and as they got closer she wondered if it was love or lust. Then when she found out that he was a demon and he said that he loved her and wanted to marry her and change from being evil and be good she had to wonder was it real or just a way to get her soul and if it is real will hell or for that matter heaven allow it.When I first started reading this book I wonder about it as I thought it was kind of choppy writing but as I got onto it and in the flow of the writing I enjoyed it. The theme was somewhat new and the author did it well, not great but well. Is this a book you will pick up and not want to put down, No but it is one that you will turn to when you have some spare time and want to escape into another world.

[sportzmomof5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.Who could love a demon? Claire. Who could make demon want to redeem himself? Claire. Who can trust a demon??? No one according to demons.Claire is a woman in her mid thirties who hates her job and has grown apart from her best friend. They go out for a girl's night and so begins the story. I was drawn in from the first paragraph and couldn't put it down. Went to bed finally at 3am and was back up at 6 finishing the story. I would love to read more on these characters and I definitely look forward to any of the authors works.

[melissa0smith-1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this story, however, that expectation fell short.The story idea is good, but lacked something. Something to make the story jump out and grab you as a reader.The one thing that had me shaking my head was how fast Samael changed his mind from deciding to kill Clare to falling head over heals in love with her.Maybe someone else will love this story, I'm sorry but it wasn't me.

[myriadbooks · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sadly, disappointing. The heroine read like a Mary Sue caricature and there was never a shred of explanation as to why the hero was so taken with her. The horror aspects began and ended with the demon hero character; I never found any part of the novel chilling,* or even mildly thrilling, although one or two parts of it were rather gory.* Unless you count the speed at which the characters' relationship progressed.I had quite high hopes for this one -- Rich Hautala is a new author to me but has a solid bibliography and reputation in horror and speculative fiction. And it's worth pointing out that The Demon's Wife is a posthumous publication. For all I know, Hautala had this book finalized and completely edited well before his untimely passing, but I suspect that was not the case here and I'm rather regretful I didn't start reading him with any other of his published works instead.Best recommended for the horror-fond YA crowd. DNF at the 50% mark. Two stars.

[laughingcarol · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Rick Hautala brings a whole new dimension to the ever popular ‘good girl meets bad boy’ plot line. In fact, The Demon's Wife is kind of hard to categorize – not quite urban fantasy, not quite romance, not quite mystery – although it has elements of all three. I’ve read a lot of urban fantasy – apparently it’s easy to fall in love with a nonhuman vampire/werewolf/shapeshifter/angel/god/dragon and live happily ever after – but Hautala wonders what happens when you fall in love with a demon.Thirty-something Clare McMullen doesn’t like much about herself - except for her long, curly, bright red hair. She’s stuck in a dead-end job she hates, has school loans she’ll never pay off, and lives in a dump with a roommate she barely tolerates. Oh yes, and she moved back to Maine (at least it’s Portland and not the rural area where she grew up) to be near a boyfriend who dumped her. One night she and Sally wandered into a bar for a quick bite before a concert. Sally tried her best to attract the attention of a good looking guy sitting near them. He said his name was Samael – not Samuel, and he only had eyes for Clare. Soon after he left, Clare was attacked in the parking lot, and life as she knew it ended. Samael isn’t just a bad boy, he’s a demon, doing what demons do, gathering souls for this boss, and Clare is on his radar scope. He rescues her from her attacker, then disappears, appears in the hospital, then disappears, helps at the police station, disappears. Since he’s attracted to her, he invites her out instead of taking her soul. She’s attracted to him, so she ignores all the obvious clues that he’s something more than human. Since I don’t want to spoil other reader’s enjoyment of “The Demon’s Wife”, I won’t reveal any of the interesting twists and turns of this well-plotted story. I will say, you won’t believe the interesting things a demon can do with his tail! I did enjoy reading “The Demon’s Wife”, but I have to say that I found Hautala’s habit of dropping hints really annoying. Instead of saying if only she’d known, she would have done such and such, just tell the story!

[caittilynn · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I also received this book as a member of the early reviewers group.I thought this had a very interesting perspective but sometimes the tone shifted between chick lit and campy young adult. Although I thought the book was humorous, I ended up absolutely hating the main character. Although, it is easy to see how the characteristics I found insanely annoying in the main character would make her very appealing to a demon. I'm just not sure they would also be the characteristics that would inspire him to be a better person.

[pfont_8 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Like others, I too received this book as a member of the Early Reviewers group. The cover art was interesting, in that it appears that the woman is actually the demon.I agree it has a bit of a young adult bent to it, the main character far more naive than expected. She reminded me a bit of the silly litte girl from that absurd trilogy about 50 shades of something. This was an infinitely better story, written by a real writer and not a bored housewife, but it lacked a bit of finesse. The abrupt ending left me feeling like there was no real resolution beyond the cliche that love conquers all. Except nothing was conquered at all, the story cuts off leaving the characters in limbo. It is, nonetheless, a quick read. No real depth, though it had the potential to delve better into the battle between good and evil, the same way Lucifer's Odyssey did. I was sad to hear of the author's death earlier this year. Not knowing too much of his previous work, I would have liked to see if this story continued.

[mariacle_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I struggled to finish this one. I think the author was trying to write the demon Samael as a lovable rogue type, but I just found him arrogant and unsympathetic, and his love interest, Claire, was way too quick to get over any misgivings she may have had when discovering the truth about Samael. The plot was predictable and the book wasn't written well enough to overcome that.

[mootma · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received a free copy of this book. It was good, but it was hard to believe that Claire was really that dense about Samael. I kept wanting to yell at her to wake up, but I guess being in love makes us blind to facts like what he used his tail for. Yes, tail. It was a nice little read.

[papercuts247 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I received a free early review copy of this urban fantasy novel, about a (“devilishly good looking”) demon essentially being redeemed by the power of lurve.It is a fast, fun read but a little lacking in depth to the characters and some super speedy plot developments – though perhaps one has to accept a little implausibility in this genre ;-)As other reviewers have noted Demon’s Wife does end somewhat abruptly – leaving you not so much with too many annoyingly unanswered questions but more thinking along the lines of if the resolving things was as “easy” as that, why were we invested in the jeopardy?A fun read, more popcorn than steak – but, hey both have a place in a balanced reading diet

[carod_51 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Claire McMullen is a lonely single woman in a job she hates living with a roommate she barely likes. On the week-ends she goes to bars looking for Mr. Right. One night she meets Samael who sweeps her off her feet and rescues her from danger. He is everything she could ask for: tall, dark, handsome and with a tail. Samael, it turns out, is a demon. What happens when a demon falls in love? Since the title of the book is The Demon's Wife, I don't think I am offering any spoilers by saying that Claire and Samael end up marrying. The title is only the first of innumerable examples of foreshadowing in this novel. I don't mind a hint or two about what is to come of the "little did she know" variety, but this book had an example of foreshadowing on every other page. I found it disrupted the flow of the story for me, as well as much of the suspense. Of course, you know when the heroine is in dire straights and is in danger of freezing in the woods or being killed by a demon that she will most likely survive. She is the heroine, after all. But having a statement about how she explained her adventures to her husband weeks later does kind of ruin the suspense. That all being said, I mostly enjoyed this novel. There was some humour in Claire's coming to grips with her boyfriend's true nature. Samael was a mischievous bad boy. Was he really trying to find redemption? Or was it all a conspiracy to steal Claire's soul? I found the ending a bit abrupt with some questions left unanswered. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy horror with humour and romance.

[littleduck-2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I won a copy of this book through Librarything and am glad I did. This is a cute book. samael is a demon with a capitol D. He meets Claire in a bar and starts to form feelings for her. something demons don’t do. Well he does and he tries to woo her. Only Claire is wary since he is a demon.The romantic interludes with the tail and what it does for her are so craftily written you will love it. And to watch him try to change and redeem himself for her is precious.Samael is so adorable for a demon. He is trying so hard to change his ways and when he slips and the gleam is in his eyes its cute. He is crushed when Claire doesn’t believe him. I mean though can you blame her he is a demon.Claire has a right to her doubts but i am glad she sees through them and gives Samael a chance.This is a cleverly written book that will have you ahh in the end for it is so precious and funny and sweet too.

[deni3-4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through LibraryThing Early Reviewers and found it to be intriguing and captivating due to the demon and human relationship but felt that it lacked in character development. The book itself was fast paced and although I enjoy a faced paced book, I felt that the plot could have been more developed as certain aspects felt like they were left incomplete.

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

I received a free copy of Rick Hautala's The Demon's Wife from LibraryThing. I really liked this book and totally wish there was going to be a second book! This book is a quick, exciting read. I loved the characters and was very invested in the story by the end. Definitely an adult paranormal romance with some humor! I only wish I knew there was going to be a second book. :(

[dichotomy_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

There is a good story in here somewhere.Unfortunately, the writing is not very good. Hautala's prose leaves a lot to be desired. His dialogue can be awkward, and his descriptive paragraphs are often boring and repetitive. There are narrative inconsistencies and loose ends left untied.The pacing in the book didn't work for me either. The whole first half of the book is all about Claire and Samael's courtship, but there's nothing to keep the reader interested. They get together right away, so it lacks the anticipation and tension that make a good romance story. But the non-romance plot elements don't really get going until halfway through the book, so the first part just drags. The ending seemed like it was crammed in, like the author had a page limit and used it all up on the romance part.Claire is not an interesting character. All her development and inner conflict is directly related to her relationship with Samael. We know she's educated, but she has a dead-end menial job and we don't know why. We know she and her best friend have been drifting apart, but that's not explored either. Her relationship with her parents seems strained but there's no backstory there. What are her hobbies? What is her personality like? She doesn't do much in the course of the story but fall in love and then let the course of events push her along. When Samael continually answers her questions (many, many questions) with "You'll find out soon enough," she is frustrated but doesn't do any investigating on her own. In all, she seems pretty boring and mediocre, and it's hard to believe a powerful demon would find her worth seeking redemption for.The bones of a good book are here. A demon being redeemed by love and a woman accepting him for who he is could be an exiting and powerful story. The obstacles they face are truly chilling, and my favorite passages in the book are Hautala's descriptions of the other demons. (I like his descriptions of Samael too - what a sexy guy!) It is too bad that it isn't executed better.

[pixiedark · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received this book through Library Thing Early Reviewers. "The Demon's Wife" is about Claire McMullen a women in her early thirties who meets a man named Samael in a nightclub. Samael is an extremely good looking man who is very rich. Claire is surprised when he takes an interest in her. She thinks that Samael is out of her league. Claire has no idea how different Samael really is. Turns out that he is a demon. Claire wonders if it is possible for a human and a demon to have a relationship together. This book is a quick fast paced read. I thought Claire fell in love much to quickly the romance happened way to fast. I also thought that the ending was a little abrupt.

[amkj-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Captivating from start to finish, but whenever I put the book down and thought about the story I was bothered by the ease with which Claire regularly dismissed her concerns about Samael and failed to follow-up when Semael side-stepped her questions. There were also some significant inconsistencies in the storyline.