Kate Daniels #1: Magic Bites
5 journalers for this copy...
Synopsis
When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it aose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice daws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles. The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre kilings - and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league - but she wouldn't have it any other way...
Shawnna's Notes
I really liked this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes dark fantasy. Although there were things that I would change, such as how vampires are portrayed, I did love the mystery and unusual characters. A great read!!!
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up such problems. But when her guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles: the undead (Vampires) and the shapeshifters (more than just wolves).
This book had a completely unique way of looking at vampires, shapeshifters, and magic, and I'm not sure I cared for all of it. I definitely didn't like the concept of vampires "piloting" other vampires remotely, nor the fact that they were portrayed as completely emotionless bloodsuckers. The concept of magic or technology being "up" was also a bit hard to get used to—especially the fact that only one or the other could be in effect at any given time. I'm much more synergistic in my approach to life and thus have a hard time dealing with absolutes. And this one definitely seemed a hard one to swallow, at least for me personally.
Overall, I'm not sure how I felt about this one. On the one hand, I enjoy the urban fantasy genre very much, but on the other, this was this author's first novel and I'm sorry to say, you could sort of tell with the writing. There were many things that could've been done better. That said, I do hold out hope for the second novel in the series, due out in March of next year. By then, she may have refined her writing technique a bit more and I won't be distracted by the lack of finesse in the writing. :) We shall see....
Genie, if you can't get in touch with Shawnna when you've finished it, why don't you just go ahead and send it on to NeedSun to keep it moving until Shawnna gets settled back in place. :)
Thanks so much for thinking of me!