Cerberus claims his favor from Callie, asking her to find a lost ancient Egyptian soul.

This is where the series starts hitting its stride — there's emotional grip here that was missing from the first book. The mortal peril of her family in this story is a little more real, since you've actually met them and spent time with them. Having said that, the romance is still inexplicable — in this book Daniel mostly doesn't even exist in corporeal form.

Also: what happened to Madame Papillon's killing weakness for carrot cake? Wouldn't that have made a much better story? ( )

Didn't quite like it as much as the first one. This one came off a bit too "girly" for me. ( )

Cat’s Claw is the second novel in the Calliope Reaper-Jones Series by Amber Benson.

Plot:
Calliope Reaper-Jones has begun to accept that her father is, in fact, Death and that it might be a good idea to learn to handle her magic, when Cerberus, hell’s guard dog, calls in a favor she owes him: Callie has to retrieve the soul of one Senenmut, Egyptian architect. To do that, Callie has to get his death record. Accompanied by Jarvis the faun, she heads to the Hall of Records where she not only meets the spirit of the guy she briefly melted auras with and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about since and Bast, her father’s feline spirit guide. Quickly, Callie realizes that things might be a tad more complicated than just collecting a soul.

I liked Death’s Daughter so little, I can’t explain why I read Cat’s Claw. So when I say that I liked Cat’s Claw better than the first book in the series, don’t take that to mean that I liked it a whole lot.

Read more on my blog: http://kalafudra.com/2015/02/23/cats-claw-amber-benson/ ( )

This is more of a 2.5 review.

This time Calliope Reaper-Jones a.k.a Death's Daughter is all over the map including a Target in Las Vegas, Ancient Egypt, Purgatory, and Hell in Cat's Claw, the second in the CRJ series. Callie gets a visit from a noted aura specialist and her Minx telling her that something is very hinky with her aura. Turns out, because of their freaky soul merging, Callie is still connected to the deceased Daniel, the former Devil's Protege, whom may not be all that dead.

To make matters worse, Callie is summoned to Hell by Cerberus to discuss the matter of Giselda or Runt as she is affectionately called. Now Callie doesn't want to give Runt up so she and Cerberus make a deal: if she can locate a certain soul named Senenmut within 24 hours she can keep Runt. If Callie fails, not only does she forfeit Runt but her own freedom as she would become the new Guardian of the North Gate of Hell.

I wasn't a fan of Death's Daughter. However, Cat's Claw, in some instances, was much better. There was a lot more exposition of the mythology of Callie's supernatural world and I loved it! It was all very fascinating about immortality, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Also, I liked the Immortal Conspiracy that came about.

Even though it really reminded me of the film, The Mummy Returns, I liked the whole Ancient Egypt-Past Life-Time Travel storyline. It was interesting. Benson did a good job of not focusing in Callie's horrid qualities too much. The whining, the boy craziness, and immaturity was bought down considerably in Cat's Claw. There were times when I even liked Callie and thought she was funny.

What I really didn't like was Callie's realization that she was in love Daniel. Since when, honey? It came out of nowhere and it pissed me off. I could understand liking him but loving him? Nope, not buying it.

I do hope as the series goes on, Callie becomes a much capable and stronger individual. It's pretty obvious that she will become the next CEO of Death, Inc but I am not seeing a leader just yet. She is still a hot mess. ( )

This is more of a 2.5 review.

This time Calliope Reaper-Jones a.k.a Death's Daughter is all over the map including a Target in Las Vegas, Ancient Egypt, Purgatory, and Hell in Cat's Claw, the second in the CRJ series. Callie gets a visit from a noted aura specialist and her Minx telling her that something is very hinky with her aura. Turns out, because of their freaky soul merging, Callie is still connected to the deceased Daniel, the former Devil's Protege, whom may not be all that dead.

To make matters worse, Callie is summoned to Hell by Cerberus to discuss the matter of Giselda or Runt as she is affectionately called. Now Callie doesn't want to give Runt up so she and Cerberus make a deal: if she can locate a certain soul named Senenmut within 24 hours she can keep Runt. If Callie fails, not only does she forfeit Runt but her own freedom as she would become the new Guardian of the North Gate of Hell.

I wasn't a fan of Death's Daughter. However, Cat's Claw, in some instances, was much better. There was a lot more exposition of the mythology of Callie's supernatural world and I loved it! It was all very fascinating about immortality, Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Also, I liked the Immortal Conspiracy that came about.

Even though it really reminded me of the film, The Mummy Returns, I liked the whole Ancient Egypt-Past Life-Time Travel storyline. It was interesting. Benson did a good job of not focusing in Callie's horrid qualities too much. The whining, the boy craziness, and immaturity was bought down considerably in Cat's Claw. There were times when I even liked Callie and thought she was funny.

What I really didn't like was Callie's realization that she was in love Daniel. Since when, honey? It came out of nowhere and it pissed me off. I could understand liking him but loving him? Nope, not buying it.

I do hope as the series goes on, Callie becomes a much capable and stronger individual. It's pretty obvious that she will become the next CEO of Death, Inc but I am not seeing a leader just yet. She is still a hot mess. ( )