The Hunter Kiss series by Marjorie M. Liu.
Genres and Sub-Genres[]
Urban Fantasy / Romance
Series Description or Overview[]
Books in Series[]
Hunter Kiss series:
- The Iron Hunt (2008)
- Darkness Calls (2009)
- A Wild Light (2010)
- The Mortal Bone (2011)
- Labyrinth of Stars (2014)
Shorts, Anthologies and Guides[]
- 0.5. "Hunter Kiss" in Wild Thing (2009) ~ Anthology, eBook (Maxine back story)
- "Armor of Roses and The Silver Voice" in Inked (2011) ~ Anthology, eBook
World Building[]
Fang-tastic Fiction: Marjorie M. Liu's HUNTER KISS SERIES
Setting[]
Seattle
Places:
- The Coop: Shelter near Chinatown—owned by Grant Cooperon
- Chicago
- China
The Supernatural Elements[]
✥ Demons, Demon Hunters, Zombies, Magic Tattoos, Golden Flute, Magical Voice, Mythological Characters. Mystical Labyrinth,
Glossary:[]
- The Veil: Protection placed between the demon's prision and the human world. Currently it's getting cracked, allowing demons to pass into the human world
- Zombie: Made by a particular kind of demon breed. Humans gets infected by it and they turn into living tools and mindless shells
- The Boys: Companions of the kiss family. Protective tattoo wards, They turn into flesh when the night comes and they turn into tattos during the day. They get passed by generations
Groups & Organizations:[]
World[]
In this dark world, Maxine Kiss, called "Hunter" by the demons and zombies that she executes, is the latest, and perhaps the last, in a long line of female Hunters. The twist here is that during the daytime, Maxine is covered with tattoos that serve as impenetrable armor, protecting her from any harm. After sunset, the tattoos strip off to form five small demons who fight for her. Maxine’s companion is her lover, Grant, a former priest whose golden flute and magical voice have supernatural powers. Demonic characters frequently attack from supernatural worlds, but much of the action is set on the dark and gloomy streets of Seattle. The series includes a number of mythological characters and a mystical labyrinth. The dark plots are complex, with many supernatural and mythical details. ~ Fang-tastic Fiction
Recurring Characters[]
Characters | What | About |
---|---|---|
Maxine Kiss, "Hunter" | Demon hunter | tattoos serve as armor by day. After sunset, they strip off to form five small demons who fight for her. |
Grant Cooperon: | former priest, Lightbringer; | golden flute and magical voice have supernatural powers; Owner of a homeless shelter; Maxine's lover; |
Zee: | Tattoo demon | Companion to the Kiss family line; |
Aaz | Tattoo demon | Companion to the Kiss family line; |
Raw | Tattoo demon | Companion to the Kiss family line; |
Dek | Tattoo demon | Companion to the Kiss family line; |
Mal | Tattoo demon | Companion to the Kiss family line; |
Jean Kiss | grandmother | Maxine's dead grandmother |
Jack Meddle | Archeologist, Avatar | aka Wolf or Old Wolf; spent time with Maxine's grandmother; Maxine's grandfather; |
Oturo | Demon | |
Tracker | Maxine's protector of sorts | Has supernatural powers of some sort. Is sent to retrieve Maxine. |
Blood Mama | Zombie Queen | Ruler of the first prison ring |
Ahsen | Avatar | Escapee from the demon prison; One of Wayward Prison Builders; |
Byron | Homeless boy | knows about Babelt's murder |
Sarai Soars | Bedelt's ex-wife | Lives with Jack Meddle |
Mary | shelter resident, Lightbringer | Former heroin addict who likes to grow marijuana and bake it into brownies; shelter's permanent residents; |
Rex | zombie | human inhabitted by a demon; Uses a human host body. Lives in the shelter |
Edik Bashmakov | ombie host | |
Brian Badelt | Private Investigator | Killed by Gunshot Wounds |
Mr. Erl King | The Erlking, Avatar | |
Killy | owns bar | has the second sight |
Father Lawrence | catholic priest | no longer human, werewolf |
Father Luke Ross | catholic priest | no longer human |
Father Franco Cribari | cathoic priest | |
Byron | homeless boy | Maxine found, not human |
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Author[]
- Official Site: Marjorie M. Liu ~ The Official Website
Marjorie M. Liu is an attorney who has lived and worked throughout Asia. She hails from both coasts, but currently resides in the Midwest, where she writes full-time. ~ FF - Marjorie M Liu
Contributors[]
Cover Artists[]
- Cover Art: Craig White — Source: book credits page / Hunter Kiss - Series Bibliography
- Cover Design: Judith Lagerman — Source: book credits page
- Interior Text Design: Laura K. Dortess — Source: book credits page
Other Contributors:[]
- Audio Book Narrator: — Source:
- Editor: Kate Seaver — Source: book credits page
Publishing Information[]
Publisher: Ace Books
- Bk1: MM-Pb, 320 pages, June 24-2008 by Ace
Author Page:
Book Cover Blurbs[]
✤ BOOK ONE—The Iron Hunt (2008): Silver smoke winds around my torso, peeling away from my ribs and back, stealing the dark mist covering my hands and lower extremities...tattoos dissolving into demon flesh, coalescing into small dark bodies. My boys. The only friends I have in this world. Demons. I am a demon hunter. I am a demon. I am Hunter Kiss. By day, her tattoos are her armor. By night, they unwind from her body to take on forms of their own--demons of the flesh, turned into flesh. This is the only family demon hunter Maxine Kiss has ever-known. It's the only way to live, and the very way she'll die. For one day her demons will abandon her for her daughter to assure their own survival--leaving Maxine helpless against her enemies. But such is the way of Earth's last protector--the only one standing between humanity and the demons breaking out from behind the prison veil. It is a life lacking in love, reveling in death, until one moment--and one man-- changes everything. ~ Goodreads | The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss, #1) by Marjorie M. Liu
✤ BOOK TWO—Darkness Calls (2009): Demon hunter Maxine Kiss, inked with living tattoos, is on a mission to rescue the man she loves from a bloodthirsty army. To save him, Maxine has only one choice: to lose control—and release her own powers of darkness. ~ Goodreads | Darkness Calls (Hunter Kiss, #2) by Marjorie M. Liu — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
✤ BOOK THREE—A Wild Light (2010): For too long Maxine Kiss has felt an inexplicable darkness inside her-a force she channels into hunting the demons bent on destroying the human race. But when she finds herself covered in blood and crouched beside her grandfather's dead body with no memory of what happened, Maxine begins to fear that the darkness has finally consumed her. ~ Goodreads | A Wild Light (Hunter Kiss, #3) by Marjorie M. Liu — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
✤ BOOK FOUR—The Mortal Bone (2011): When the bond Maxine Kiss shares with the demons tattooed on her skin is deliberately severed, the demon hunter is left vulnerable and unprotected. For the first time in ten thousand years, the demons have a taste of freedom. And as the little demons grow more violent and unpredictable, Maxine starts to fear they will lose their minds without her. Reuniting won't be easy, since a greater temptation waits for these hellions: a chance to return to their lives as Reaper Kings, and unleash hell on Earth. ~ Goodreads | The Mortal Bone (Hunter Kiss, #4) by Marjorie M. Liu — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists
✤ BOOK FIVE—Labyrinth of Stars (2014): Tattoos with hearts, minds, and dreams. Created to be the armor that protects my body, these obsidian shadows come alive at night—demons made flesh. After the Aetar nearly kill Maxine’s unborn child, and a betrayal within her own ranks leaves Maxine’s husband, Grant, poisoned and dying, Maxine is forced to attack a race of beings that possesses almost unlimited power. Doing so will require she make a deal with the devil—the devil that lives inside her—risking both her sanity and her soul as she slowly transforms into something more than human. But even that might not be enough to save Grant, because the very thing that Maxine is becoming is destined to destroy the world. ~ Goodreads | Labyrinth of Stars (Hunter Kiss, #5)
First Sentences[]
- The Iron Hunt (2008) — When I was eight, my mother lost me to zombies in a one-card draw.
- Darkness Calls (2009) — Zombies had a bad habit of shooting me in the head.
- A Wild Light (2010) — It was my birthday, the anniversary of my mother's murder, and on the way to the party, I mad a special point to stop and kill a zombie.
- The Mortal Bone (2011) — What happens in Texas, stays in Texas. Except when Demons are involved.
- Labyrinth of Stars (2014) — I'll be honest: I can't recommend having a deomon as you obstetrician.
Quotes[]
- Marjorie M. Liu Quotes (Author of The Iron Hunt) ~ Goodreads
- Hunter Kiss Series ~ Shelfari
Trivia[]
- Lists That Contain The Iron Hunt (Hunter Kiss #1) by Marjorie M. Liu
- Lists That Contain Darkness Calls (Hunter Kiss, #2) by Marjorie M. Liu
- Lists That Contain A Wild Light (Hunter Kiss, #3) by Marjorie M. Liu
- Lists That Contain The Mortal Bone (Hunter Kiss, #4) by Marjorie M. Liu
- | Lists That Contain Labyrinth of Stars (Hunter Kiss, #5) by Marjorie M. Liu
Awards[]
Read Alikes (similar elements)[]
Magic Tattoos
- Iron Druid Chronicles
- Cassandra Palmer series
- Eric Carter series
- House of Comarré series
- Dark Ink Chronicles
- Mortal Instruments, The
- Skindancer series
- Persephone Alcmedi series
- Valducan series
- Inked
zombies:
- White Trash Zombie series
- Deadtown series
- Revivalist Trilogy
- City of the Lost
- Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter
Demons
- Black Sun's Daughter series
- Kara Gillian series
- Mortal Path series
- Morgan Kingsley series
- Dark Swan Series
- Dante Valentine series
- Jill Kismet series
- Blood Lily Chronicles
- Signs of the Zodiac series
Hunters
- Guild Hunter series
- Night Huntress series
- Dark Brethren series
- Jane Yellowrock series
- Crown & Key series ~ New
- Downside Ghosts series
- Dorina Basarab series
- Dark-Hunter series
- Deacon Chalk series
- Dante Valentine series
- Half-Light City series
- Hollows series
- Vampire Huntress Legend series
- Siobhan Quinn series
- Secret McQueen series
- Deadtown series
- Demon Squad series
- Mortal Instruments
See Category links at bottom of page
Notes[]
See Also[]
- UF Book Release Schedules
- List of Sidekicks
- List of Vampires of Urban Fantasy
- Characters (category)
- List of UF Anthologies
- List of Cover Artists
- Urban Fantasy Links
Category links at bottom of page
External References[]
Books: Books:
- Marjorie M. Liu: BOOKS ~ The Official Website ~ Author
- Hunter Kiss series by Maggie Shayne ~ Goodreads
- Marjorie M Liu ~ FF
- Hunter Kiss - Series Bibliography ~ ISFdb
- Hunter Kiss Series ~ Shelfari
- Hunter Kiss | Series | LibraryThing ~ LibraryThing
- FictFact - Hunter Kiss series by Marjorie M Liu ~ FictFact
- Marjorie M. Liu - Summary Bibliography~ ISFdb (author)
Summaries:
World, Characters, etc:
Artist:
Author:
- dead site: Marjorie M. Liu ~ The Official Website
- Marjorie Liu - Wikipedia
- Marjorie M. Liu (Author of The Iron Hunt) ~ Goodreads
Community, Fan Sites: