Summary
Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for the magic. 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 rose.
Kate Daniels works for the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle—especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.
When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar midway between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years—and rode to war at the side of Kate’s father.
This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, to handle. Because this time, Kate will be taking on family…
Review
I really enjoyed this book and found it very... satisfying.
Magic Bleeds starts with a prologue of the Naked Dinner that Kate owes Curran. It doesn't quite go as planned and it seems that Kate has been stood up. There she is in her kitchen, surrounded by cold food, in her underwear and makeup, no Curran, no phone call, and no idea what is going on. She calls The Keep and is told that all future inquiries need to go through Pack security. She believes that Curran set the whole thing up to humiliate her and of course her first instinct is to go to the keep and punch him. She realizes that in a fight with Curran, she would lose and the public would see it as The Pack assaulting a member of the Order. Kate decides to be responsible and not get The Pack in trouble because she still has shifter friends. This is a lesson learned, friends make you weak and she cannot afford to be weak.
Chapter 1 then picks up with Kate taking a call on a bar fight that ended with a patron pinned to a telephone pole and infected with a magically strengthened disease. Kate is on the Mary's (plague carrier) trail and beginning to discover that the shapeshifters are in trouble, she can't isolate herself, and she might be outgrowing her position at the Order.
The book was fast paced, full of action, witty dialogue, and peppered with laugh-out-loud bits - a typical Kate Daniels book. While Andrews stated on her blog that Kate "loses everything" in this book, I have to disagree. Yes, at one point Kate loses every material thing that connected her to her dead guardian and family. This is a huge emotional loss, but it forces her to make a choice: does she continue down her original path of loneliness and an early death or does she make a life and connections for herself? The world building, rules, different groups, etc. were all explained smoothly without being tedious. Instead of Kate coming off as the angry badass heroine, her anger, attitude, and actions are nicely explained by her friend Andrea. Andrea realizes that this is the first time Kate has had friends or fell in love. She didn't know how to handle the disappointment or broken heart. This made Kate a much more sympathetic character. Readers and other characters also get a chance to see sharp, smart tactician and fighter that she hides behind her me-kill-you-dead persona that she presents to the world.
Kate and Curran's relationship also takes a decisive step. I really liked that both characters didn't just storm around angrily (though they did do that) but they also *gasp* talked to each other about what happened. Honesty, articulation, smex, it was great!
As I said above, this is a very satisfying read. If I didn't know that Kate 5 was currently being written, I'd be worried that this was a series ending book. Things are kind of wrapped up neatly with a new life and future ahead of Kate. I'll be interested to see how her character deals with new responsibilities, no longer being on her own, a relationship, shifter politics, happiness, and the need to attend formal events.
VERDICT
If you've been reading the previous Kate Daniels books, how could you not pick this up? This was a very character driven story with a fairly straightforward plot. While probably not my favorite Kate book, I enjoyed it for what it gave me, especially the forward momentum... and Curran.
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1 comments:
I found your blog thanks to the Book Blogger Hop, I adore this series, I am glad your like it too :)
September 10, 2010 6:26 AMLovely Blog
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