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In The Devil Inside, Jenna Black invites the reader into the world of exorcist Morgan Kingsley, a world where demons operate openly, so openly they're regulated and controlled by law. Kingsley's job is to exorcise the demons that break the law and possess the unwilling and she is one of the best at it. These are and aren't the demons we know. The premise is that these supernatural beings are the basis for the demon mythology, but they aren't simply fallen angels. In fact, Black never makes it entirely clear just what a demon is - of course not, this is the first novel in a series.

Morgan comes from a family of demon enthusiasts that belong to the Spirit Society, a group promoting demon possession. Demon hosts have exceptional strength, resilience and immunity. Legal, licensed and registered they take on dangerous jobs like firefighting and police work. Morgan's brother is a willing host to a demon, his own personality trapped somewhere in the back of the demon mind and Morgan definitely doesn't approve. She approves even less when she finds out, early in the novel, that she's an unwilling host herself and one that's starting a civil war among the demons no less. The penalty for the demon is exorcism and exorcism may leave the host's mind completely shattered, a fact she understands from long experience.

Through the course of the story, Morgan mistreats her boyfriend, fantasizes about/with the demon in her head, fights with her brother's demon for herself and as part of the war, exorcises a legal demon gone roque and discovers things about demon society no other human knows. In this milieu exorcists exist in the same shadowy semi-official second class private cop status as private investigators in all the private dick pulp fiction. So, of course, Morgan has a love-hate relationship with a cop, in this case a demon cop, who also has a thing for her and in the style you might expect of a demon his attraction is not satisfied with vanilla courtship. Even aside from the sacrilegious ideas that all demons aren't evil, demon possession might not be all bad and exorcists can be sexy young women, not just old priests, the easily offended will need to stay away because of the sex and the kink. (The worst Amazon review gave the book three stars because it «bogged down in rough erotic content.» The other reviewers didn't complain.)

This novel is suspenseful, sexy and action packed. The world Black builds is intriguing. The demons internal strife, their positive role in human society and the moral complexity of the human and demon characters make for an interesting read.