Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland

Darkness will summon her

Elizabeth Phoenix once used her unique skills as a psychic to help in the Milwaukee Police Department’s fight against injustice. But when Liz’s foster mother is found viciously murdered—and Liz is discovered unconscious at the scene—her only memory of the crime comes in the form of terrifying dreams...of creatures more horrific than anything Liz has seen in real life. What do these visions mean? And what in the world do they have to do with her former lover, Jimmy Sanducci?

To places she’s never been before

While the police question Jimmy in the murder, Jimmy opens Liz’s eyes to a supernatural war that has raged since the dawn of time in which innocent people are hunted by malevolent beings disguised as humans. Only a chosen few have the ability to fight their evil, and Jimmy believes Liz is among them. Now, with her senses heightened, new feelings are rising within Liz—ones that re-ignite her dangerous attraction to Jimmy. But Jimmy has a secret that will rock Liz to her core…and put the survival of the human race in peril.

I got my copy of this book from the awesome folks over at LibraryThing. They give away books each month and last year the publisher handed out a 1000 copies through LT with the understanding that the recipients will write a review of the book they receive. I actually got two and it still took me until March to read it. I try to put off reading new books from authors that I like because then I'll have to wait another year before the next one and I hate that. Anyway, Doomsday finally made it last month. I had read the prequel short story "In the Beginning" that Handeland wrote and gave away for free on her website, in which we learn what happened during the end of Liz Phoenix's career as a cop. By the end of it I was intrigued. Liz Phoenix is a tragic character - foster kid, had abilities she's doesn't want or understand, suffered through heartbreak by the man she's still in love with, blames herself for the death of her partner in the line of duty, etc.

Tragic or not, I liked Liz. For maybe the first half, anyway. I thought the whole deal with Sawyer and gaining powers though sex was a turnoff. It reminded me a lot of Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series and how disappointed I was when it became basically a vehicle for bad porn. Then she believed she could save Jimmy from his father's clutches with sex. That seems pretty naive to me, having seen what Liz had already been through. I was disappointed with this effort from Lori Handeland, having read and liked most of her Nightcreature series. I will probably read the next one, Doomsday Can Wait, even though this one was lukewarm.