Publisher: Roc (October 16, 2008)
Paperback: 355 pages
Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Using magic meant it used you back. Forget the fairy-tale, hocus-pocus, wave a wand and bling-o, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex, and drugs, gave as good as it got.
Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user – maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying, and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell’s caster – and Allison Beckstrom’s the best there is.
Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune – and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father’s signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high-stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic.
Now Allie’s out for the truth – and must call upon forces that will challenge everything she knows, change her in ways she could never imagine … and make her capable of things that powerful people will do anything to control.
Review:
These days, my favorite genre to read is urban fantasy. Things in line with Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson series (aka, my favorite books ever). Devon Monk’s Allie Beckstrom series certainly delivered.
Monk took a tried and true idea, and twisted it into this new identity of society and the way magic could work as a commodity. And it made for an interesting read. Easy and fast, Monk’s book fits the bill for a nice rainy day choice to get lost in. Allie is the sort of kick ass characters that is chock full of flaws (memory loss, much?) but this inner vulnerability and strength that makes you love her a little more each as you read.
The pacing is perfect and character development on ball. What’s even better is that this is just the first in a series, and the mystery that gets started in this book will be further explored, as will Allie and Zayvion’s relationship. If you’re interested in something nice and easy, and don’t want to read about a vaguely ditzy character (Stephanie Plum, you amuse but also irk me), then do pick this up.
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