Dr. Megan Chase knows what it means to be an outcast. As a teenager she was considered a freak for the uncanny way she could read people's darkest thoughts. Although she tried to hide the full extent of her psychic abilities, other kids were wary of her. Something "just wasn't right" with Megan Chase. As is often the case with social outsiders, Megan developed an extraordinary compassion for the underdog. That compassion, coupled with her psychic gifts, led her to become a counselor that her clients depended on and her colleagues envied.

When Megan is asked to host a radio call-in show, she balks. The mounting tension among her colleagues, however, leaves her practice vulnerable. She agrees to the show, and despite much protest, eventually to the catch phrase, "how can I slay your personal demons?" Despite her repulsion over the trite and corny tagline, Megan is passionate about helping troubled souls.

It is that tagline, however, that unleashes a battle that nearly costs our spunky and gutsy heroine her life. What Megan doesn't know, is that everyone has an actual, not just euphemistic, personal demon riding on their shoulder. Everyone that is, except Megan, which puzzles and infuriates the demon underworld. They are convinced that she is actually going to hunt down and kill the personal demons.

Stacia Kane has created a cast of loveable characters. Personal Demons is a quirky, exciting, and fun rollercoaster ride. We meet a well-connected-and intoxicatingly fiendish-demon whose intentions with Megan aren't entirely clear. She's assigned a trio of oafish but endearing demon body guards. She is mentored in magic by a socially-awkward witch. And she is hounded by a reporter assigned to write a public interest story on Megan who has unearthed a devastating secret that she has kept hidden for many years. And of course Personal Demons is replete with perfectly detestable characters intent on destroying Megan.

Ms. Kane is a talented writer with a bright future ahead of her. Readers will resonate with and cheer for Megan and her sidekicks. They'll be pleased to know that they will meet Dr. Chase again in Demons Inside scheduled for release in January 2009.

I read Personal Demons in one sitting. It kept me engaged, enchanted, and just a little bit creeped out. I want Dr. Chase and her clever creator on my side in a skirmish.