Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

8/10

Billi SanGreal is the only girl in the Knights Templar, and the most kick-ass weapon-wielding heroine around. At fifteen, her life is a rigorous and brutal round of weapons practice, demon killing and occult lore – and a whole lot of bruises. But then, she didn’t have much choice. Her father, the Grandmaster of the Order, forced her to take this path. There is no sacrifice Arthur will not make in his war against the Unholy. But Billi hates the Order, and she hates him too. Tempted by a chance to live a different kind of life and reject everything her father wants her to be, she learns to her horror that she may unwittingly have brought down the tenth plague upon humanity – the death of all first borns. Faced with choosing her destiny, she soon realises that even death may be no escape.

Devil’s Kiss opens with a bang and the first chapter is excellent. We are introduced to Billi SanGreal on the day that she faces The Ordeal, her last test before she can be initiated into the Order of the Knight Templar and all she has to do is kill a six year-old boy… The very thought of what she must do is as difficult for Billi as it is for the reader and this tense and haunting passage marks a dazzling beginning to what proves to be an extremely enjoyable read.

“The boy looked at her. He was missing a lower front tooth, but otherwise his baby teeth formed a soft, easy smile.
Just like the photo.
I could still be wrong.
But with each step closer, she knew she wasn’t. It was the bruises.
Billi stopped a few metres in front of him. The marks still held the impressions of fingers, even after all this time.
‘Have you come to play?’ he asked.
Devil’s Kiss: Chapter 1

The lead players are strong; the feisty heroine Billi, her stern and demanding father Arthur, and the mysterious Michael are all memorable and larger than life. The narrative is compelling and the author makes modern day London seem mysterious and otherworldly; there is a superb atmosphere to the book as Chadda brings to life his very own interpretation of London, a London that is every bit as magical as that which Sherlock Holmes inhabited in Arthur Conan Doyle’s work.

“The catacombs ran everywhere under the Temple district. Secret warrens, tunnels and chambers had been excavated by the Templars of old, and all record of them had conveniently vanished over time so only the knights themselves were aware of their existence. There was even a secret entrance to the underground Fleet River, unbeknown to all above. Few realized how the ancient bones of the city slept under the steel and glass towers of modern London.”
Devil’s Kiss: Chapter 8

Sarwat Chadda’s life-long love of the Crusades gave birth to this book and his two daughters inspired the character of Billi. The standard is set very high in the opening chapter and it remains high throughout. If you crossed Buffy, The Bible and The Da Vinci Code then the result might well be the Devil’s Kiss; a fast-paced, action-packed and thought-provoking novel that will delight teenagers of both sexes. Sarwat Chadda’s clever, subtle and balanced use of religion deserves special mention as it will fall like healing rain on a world badly in need of religious tolerance.

Sarwat Chadda has travelled widely in the Far and Middle East, but there’s no place like home, and home is London. There’s nothing he enjoys more than getting lost in its ancient paths and alleyways, and it’s on these streets that Billi SanGreal was born. Who needs fantasy worlds when you’ve a city like this? He shares this place with many other souls, but most of all he shares it with his wife and two daughters.

The sequel to Devil’s Kiss, The Dark Goddess, is expected in 2010.