Hell Fire is the second release in the Corine Solomon series. In this book we find Corine and Chance heading towards her hometown of Kilmer, Georgia for a reunion with her past, and answers to why her mother was killed, while she survived. Something that has haunted her for years. The actual answers will both stun, and anger Corine to the point of taking extreme measures in her desire for revenge. Corine can touch any object and know its history; she’s one of the gifted and is called a handler. She suffers burns on her hands each and every time she touches something including hair brushes, necklaces, and the ground itself. Her abilities actually appear to be getting stronger once she touches her mother’s old necklace she finds in the woods, and at the same time, puts her further into dangerous situations that may end up killing her in the end. Chance, her ex-boyfriend, has come along because of Corine’s involvement in saving Min, his mother, and with the hope that Corine has finally made up her mind that she will come back to Tampa, Florida with him so they can be together once again. He also promised to use his “luck” to help find out who really killed her mother. But, when he gets to Kilmer, all bets are off as his abilities are muted to the point of being worthless. The most surprising and entertaining character of this book was Shannon, an 18 year old gifted individual who can hear and speak to the dead with her handy AM/FM radio. It’s her involvement with Corine, after realizing that her mother was out of control, that helps find the real villains behind her mother’s death, and in giving Corine her justifiable revenge. Shannon’s family is one of the original “founders” of Kilmer, but because she has a rare gift, she isn’t really safe from being hunted down and killed. I’m actually wondering if we will see more of her in future books because of Corine’s choice in becoming her mentor.The dark and gloomy town of Kilmer is an interesting backdrop for this story in that it really doesn’t appear to exist to the outside world thanks to a bargain made between the original twelve and a demon that calls itself Maury. GPS and Satellites can’t get a lock on the city, and it’s by sheer luck that anyone finds the town at all. *I wouldn’t actually be surprised to find a town like this in the South. Somewhere off the beat and path where only the residents know it existed, and where modern technology is actually a curse.The demon “itself” seems to be fascinated by Corine, and even protective in nature. He even has the best line when he says he’s her father, and then says, no, not really, but I always wanted to say that! I don’t think we are finished with “Maury” either, which will be curious to see where that story leads.If you are interested in this series, please read Blue Diablo first. You will get more of a background on Chance, and Jesse Saldana, the police officer who has become Corine’s mentor to the gifted world and who drops everything in Texas to come to the aid of Corine. He is also an empath. Blue Diablo also had the more intense action scenes out of the two books released.I first got involved in this series because of the Sirantha Jax series, which I absolutely love. This book has its good and bad moments. I don’t much care for three way relationships, and of course, here you have Chance and Jesse trying to decide Corine’s future without asking her first and Corine’s final page decision that may change everything. Chance, in my opinion, has had opportunities and blew it. Give Jesse a chance to prove himself worthy of Corine, and if it means another character comes into the picture, so be it. I'm not understanding Corine's desire to return to Mexico City either, especially since she is being hunted by Montoya. Overall, a good story, especially meeting Corine’s past foster families. Miz Ruth is definitely a southern female with her cooking and stories and her religious believes in the coming of the apocalypse.
