Amy Perry has always felt an outsider. She has adopted a goth-like appearance in an attempt to prevent anyone from getting too close and learning too much about her. She lives in fear of people discovering the truth - that she spends most nights protecting her young brother, Charles, from her drunken father.

When a number of young women begin to disappear people believe it to be the work of a perfectly "normal" serial killer but little do they realise that this is far from the truth. They are becoming vessels to feed the demon Azazel giving him the strength to return to the world and wreak havoc.

In the midst of this Amy is approached by an old injured man who tells her she is a Bane - one of a group of immortal beings whose destiny is to fight a particular demon. In Amy's case her nemesis is Azazel. Although reluctant to accept her destiny Amy soon realises that only she can stand between the world and Armageddon.

Shredder: Iron Angel is the latest novel from Karen Koehler and is set in a seemingly normal American town. Needless to say, things are far from normal and the main character, Amy, finds herself at the centre of a battle with evil.

Amy is definitely not your usual kind of heroine. No blond hair and blue eyes here. She is a troubled young woman who has been forced to grow up well before her time and has created a mask to stop anyone getting to know here.

As I read this book I was aware of some fairly obvious similarities with Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In both cases you have a young woman who has supernatural powers and is forced to fight evil with the help of an older advisor. However in the case of Iron Angel the main protagonist is much grittier and worldly-wise.

I have read a number of books written by Karen Koehler and I have never been disappointed. She always manages to create an intensely creepy and compelling story that hooks you from the start and then proceeds to reel you in until the very end. One of her great strengths is her characterisations. Often you find that only the main characters are fully fleshed out and that others are almost like filler. Karen's characters are all 3-dimensional and give a depth to her writing that keeps you enthralled to the very end.

Another superb novel guaranteed to put chills up anyone's spine!

Synopsis
Ungodly terror...

The scrape of metal, the creak of ancient joints too long unused. These are the sounds that echo against the darkened walls of the Iron Angel music club when Azazel, the Lord of Hell, stirs in his ancient slumber. Then comes another: a shriek of black agony as the darkest angel of all takes yet another blood sacrifice.

For centuries no mortal soul has heard these noises and lived--no one until Amy Perry. Wounded and seeking, she tries to lose herself amidst the mass bauhaus of the club, but instead finds herself caught up in an ancient battle beyond her human comprehension. Armed only with the wisdom of a pain-riddled mage, an ancient weapon, and her own scattered wits, Amy must hold back the forces of night while battling the demons within. Only one lost soul can defeat the Shredder of Human Souls, and despite her horror, despite her reluctance, despite the fact that it may cost Amy her immortal soul, she must salvage the world from Azazel's hellish tide of unspeakable evil.

First in a shocking new horror trilogy by the acclaimed author of Slayer, Scarabus and The Maiden #1: Out of the Ashes.