Magic Bites: Ilona Andrews

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic…

Meet Kate Daniels -- a saber-toting, magic-wielding member of the Mercenaries Guild. Her job is to clean up messy magical situations the other paranormal organizations refuse to take on. Unfortunately, the pay is low and it’s not exactly a walk in the park…and more often than not, it can be fatal. Fortunately, she’s really good at her job.

Near-future Atlanta is a city engulfed in magic, and like some strange, unpredictable tide, it ebbs and flows. When in force, technology fails (forget about driving a car or using a phone) and when it ebbs, technology works. When it’s in force, the supernaturals rule the world. In this mayhem are such organizations as The Order of Merciful Aid, charged with keeping the peace (for a price, of course.)

When Greg Feldman -- Kate’s legal guardian and the Order’s knight-diviner -- is torn to pieces by an unidentified supernatural killer, she vows revenge and at any cost. Her investigation lands her in the center of an explosive power struggle between the Pack, the clan of shapeshifters, and the Masters of the Dead, who control a seemingly endless army of vampires. She has her hunches on who may be orchestrating the power struggle, and with Pack king Curran as an ally, she may solve the mystery…and stay alive in the process.

Loved this book. Kate is a walking enigma, even to herself. A driven, tough-assed loner seemingly less than human, and yet she lets her guard down enough to trust Curran. And he is the perfect alpha character -- mean as a rattlesnake, and only out to serve himself and the Pack. In an odd way he’s almost loveable, and definitely a character I want to know more about. Don’t get any ideas about this being a love match, though. They’d rather kill each other in an all-out fight than kiss and make up. At least for now.

Granted, there is nothing new under the sun with the plotline (good v. evil) but the author gives such good description, pacing and atmosphere that it’s easy to overlook any hint of formula. Her world-building and characterizations are exceptional, and the imaginative city she’s built is a really fresh turn in this genre.

This author is definitely on my watch list, and I’m looking forward to a sequel. If you’re into the paranormal -- especially gritty urban fantasy -- Magic Bites is not to be overlooked.
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Publisher: Ace (March 27, 2007)
ISBN-10: 0441014895
ISBN-13: 978-0441014897
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