Running with the Demon is the beginning of Terry Brooks' dark urban fantasy series The Word and the Void centered around the Freemark family of Hopewell, Illinois. Magic runs through the women in 14-year-old Nest Freemark's family and makes her one of the few humans who can see the dark beings of the Void lurking in Sinnissippi Park. She's lived with her grandparents, Evelyn and Bob, since her mother's death many years ago in a house that backs up to the park. Like the other women in her family, Nest is enlisted by a six inch sylvan named Pick to protect the park. And these days the park needs a lot of protecting. The feeders that normally lurk in shadows are becoming braver in their effort to feed on human emotion. Luckily Nest has a ghost-like wolf named Wraith to protect her.

Meanwhile, unbeknown to Nest a demon has arrived in town and befriends a dimwitted but hot-tempered resident and plants the idea of setting a bomb in the Fourth of July fireworks. But the demon doesn't arrive alone. Close behind is John Ross, a Knight of the Word in service to the Lady and his only job is to maintain the balance between the Void and the Word. When John sleeps, his dreams show him a horrific future where the demons have enslaved humanity. During these visions he finds clues about his current mission. And now this mission includes keeping Nest from the influence of the Void. Through his visions he learns the connection between the demon and Evelyn's past, a connection that makes Nest vulnerable to the Void. If he can't stop the demon he must be prepared to kill Nest.

My Recommendation
Running with the Demon was a bit slow to start off but once the story took off there was plenty of action to keep it going. A lot of interesting elements go into making this a great dark urban fantasy, from the origins of John's service to his prophetic dreams and up to Nest's emerging power. I would definitely check out The Word and the Void series.

Also in The Word and the Void series: A Knight of the Word and Angel Fire East

Running With The Demon by Terry Brooks
Printed by Del Rey
448 pages

Running with the Demon is available at Amazon.com