I’ve missed the phenomenon that is Skulduggery Pleasant, so this was a good opportunity to try a Landy novel. This new series is definitely aimed at an older audience, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Amber is a teen with a bad relationship with her parents. She works part-time at a diner, but one night on her way home she is attacked by two men. Yet she not only fights them off – she does them serious damage. Confused, she heads home where her parents reveal to her the shocking truth – she’s a demon, like them. And what’s worse, in order for them to consolidate their powers, they are going to kill her and eat her.

So Amber does the only thing she can – she goes on the run and does a deal with the devil.

Accompanied on the Demon Road by enigmatic Milo, driver of a charger with a mind of its own, and by Glen, a garrulous Irish boy who is marked for death, fulfilling her side of the bargain is not going to be easy. Tracking serial killers and monsters across America, the trio encounter some truly scary and gory situations – the doll’s house with its miniaturised dead bodies, the tree witches and their zest for human skin… Deliciously gruesome and very, very violent. And always the threat of her parents right behind her, and the Devil calling in his debt.

This is a relentless road trip novel, packed with dark humour and copious amounts of viscera. It’s pacy and full of action, and very, very readable. I loved Glen’s character and was intrigued by Milo’s dark past, and Amber was an engaging heroine, trying to hold onto her humanity while her demon side lusts for blood. Great fun, and I shall definitely be reading others in the series!

Harper Collins Children’s Books, 2015, ISBN 978-0008140816