UNDER WRAPS is the first installment of Hannah Jayne's
Underworld Detective Agency novels. The UDA resembles a
supernatural version of the DMV. Sophie Lawson works as an
executive assistant for Mr. Sampson, the agency's head, and
does her best to make sure all the underworld beings have
their paperwork in order. Sophie is known as a norm or a
breather because she has no magical abilities, but she's
also immune to magic as well. Enter Detective Parker
Hayes, a new detective with the San Francisco Police who
needs Sophie and her immunity to magic to help with some
suspiciously ritualistic—not to mention gruesome--murders
up top. With Mr. Sampson's blessing, she agrees to try.
Sophie pictures herself as a kickass heroine, but she's
not. She's more timid and ditzy, puking at the first
murder scene and nearly passing out, but she has some good
one-liners. Jayne's paranormal romance is on the
snarky, light-hearted side rather than the dark, more
thriller side of urban fantasy. Perhaps it's that I like
the darker ones better, but I never warmed up to Sophie as
a character or Detective Hayes. And it's clear that Hayes
is hiding secrets. There is some mysterious history in
Sophie's family, too, but Jayne only touches on this, and
I'm assuming it will be fleshed out in future stories.
That said, I loved Nina, her roommate and fashionista
extraordinaire and would like to know more about Mr.
Sampson. Let's not forget the troll Steve, who has a huge
crush on Sophie and always speaks in the third person.
Jayne has a flair for fun characters, even if the
protagonist didn't come alive for me. The plot reveals
itself fairly slowly as does the truth of the enigma
Hayes, but he played more games with Sophie's emotions
than I cared for. I'll probably check out the second book,
Under Attack which is due out in November, out of
curiosity.
As a human immune to magic, Sophie Lawson can help
everyone from banshee to zombie transition into normal,
everyday San Francisco life. With a handsome werewolf as
her UDA boss and a fashionista vampire for a roommate,
Sophie knows everything there is to know about the undead,
the unseen, and the uncanny. Until a rash of gruesome
murders has demons and mortals running for cover, and
Sophie finds herself playing sidekick to detective Parker
Hayes.
Dodging ranging bloodsuckers, bad-tempered faires, and
love-struck trolls is one thing. But when Sophie discovers
parker isn't what he seems, she's only got one chance to
figure out whom to trust. Because an evil hiding in plain
sight is closing in...and about to make one wisecracking
human it means to ultimate power.
© 2003-2024 off-the-edge.net
all rights reserved Privacy Policy