"BROKEN BLADE is more than your usual Urban Fantasy"
Reviewed by Annie Tegelan
Posted December 27, 2013
Fantasy Urban
J.C. Daniels picks up where the last book, Night Blade
finished. Kit Colbana is beyond broken and beyond fixing. As
she tries to recover from the horrific events she
experienced, she is also trying to grasp hope and figure out
who she is again. Damon is pushed away because of her
vulnerable state, leaving many readers wondering about the
circumstances of their relationship. Meanwhile, Kit takes on
a new assignment involving the theft of an ancient relic.
It's a lot of handle, but Kit's perseverance and strength is
admirable, making her one of my favourite heroines this
year.
Daniels creates a unique world in BROKEN BLADE and more of
it is explored in this last installment. Though for me, the
characters being this world to life, it's nice to see a
balance between several aspects of the book. As a whole,
BROKEN BLADE is strong on all fronts. The writing is
engaging, the pacing is wonderful and the character
development continues to stun me. As much action there is in
this book, there is also the same level of depth and
development in each of the characters as well.
More than your usual Urban Fantasy, BROKEN BLADE is an
excellent follow-up to the jaw-dropping events of its
predecessor.
SUMMARY
Kit Colbana: assassin, thief, investigator extraordinaire.
Now broken. She always expected her past to catch up with
her but never like this. Haunted by nightmares and stripped
of her identity, she's retreated to Wolf Haven, the
no–man's land where she found refuge years before. But
while she might want to hide away from the rest of the
world, the rest of the world isn't taking the hint.
Dragged kicking and screaming back into life, Kit is
thrust head–first into an investigation surrounding
the theft of an ancient relic...one that she wants nothing
to do with. Her instincts tell her it's a bad idea to just
leave the relic lying about, but finding it might be just as
bad.
Forced to face her nightmares, she uncovers hidden
strength and comes face to face with one of the world's
original monsters.
If she survives the job, she won't be the same...and
neither will those closest to her.
ExcerptMost bills had gone electronic decades ago, but the United
States Postal Service wasn't totally defunct. A lot of high
magic users didn't totally trust E-shit of any kind so they
stuck to traditional methods, like mail or courier—that
wasn't a bad thing. Courier work had kept me fed for quite a
while.Another business enterprise that still relied on the USPS?
Junk mail. A couple of flyers, a request for my presence at
a very important seminar for small business types. Junk,
junk and more junk. Then something that burned when I touched it. High magic in the mail wasn't an unusual thing. Since you
had to be human to work in most government jobs outside of
Banner, sending stuff like this wouldn't even catch the
attention of a postal worker, but it seemed a little weird
to waste a spell of this caliber when a courier would have
gotten it to me quicker and made the spell unnecessary. "What's that?" Justin had caught the magic coming off it already, moving my
way as I leaned back to study it. The envelope looked like
something out of another century—like two or three of them
past. The handwriting was a broad, elegant scroll and
totally unfamiliar. Tapping the edge of it against my desk,
I met his gaze. "It would appear to be an envelope," I said. "Ha-ha." He held out a hand. "I know how to handle my own mail." I reached inside a
drawer and pulled out a thin strip of leather. On it were a
series of beads. It was one of the charms I'd bought from
Green Road over the years and like most of the inactive
spells, it didn't do anything until it sensed my touch.
Magic lasted longer when it wasn't constantly wasting its
energies. Colleen crafted most of the spells and charms I
used and she keyed them all to my touch. Once I touched it,
the magic in it hummed to life. "Too much magic in that thing to rely on a charm," Justin said. I shot him a look. "Justin…this isn't how I work…letting you
do the job for me." I waited until he backed off before I
did anything else. If I was getting a bad vibe from it, I'd let him handle it,
but I wasn't. There was plenty of power pulsing from the thing, but it was
neither malevolent nor harmless. It just…was. Odd as it
seemed, the thing just pulsed with power, like it wanted
nothing more than to get my attention. I placed the charm over it and waited. The beads on it glowed as the magic within flared. Finally,
the beads flashed green, signaling it should be safe to
proceed. If magic of the nasty, dark kind had been sensed,
the beads would have gone black. Scooping up the charm, I
dumped it back in the drawer and reached for the envelope.
Justin stood close by and I could feel the tension crawling
off him. "Tone it down," I muttered. He was freaking me out
and wasn't I messed up enough already? Slipping my knife under the top edge, I broke the seal. Then
waited.
Nothing but that steady pulse of magic. Okay. I sliced it
open and set my knife aside, blowing out a breath. "I feel
like an—" I started to say as I reached inside to pull out
the document inside. I never managed to finish the sentence because magic
shrieked, splitting the relative quiet of the morning with a
wail like a dying banshee. Hurling the thing down, I shoved back from my desk and
braced myself. Magic built around us, harder, higher,
hotter. Tighter--somehow, the feel of the magic grew
tighter, wrapping around us like a bubble. Oh, hell, I hope
that bubble didn't pop with us inside. I put myself at Justin's side, noting yet again that the
silver on his sleeves had started to spark. His dreads
whipped around in an unseen wind. "What the hell is this?" I
asked, but my voice was lost in the magic maelstrom. "Old magic," he shouted. "Not felt anything like it in a
while. Just stay by me." I felt the odd, static warmth of his magic wrap around me—it
had a strange, metallic sort of feel and made me think of
blades clashing, shields flashing in the morning sun. The two magics built and built—that foreign presence that I
didn't like at all and Justin's familiar magic, like a giant
warrior mantling over us, shield lifted and ready. And then, as abruptly as it had started, it died. It didn't
fade; it just ended. Justin cut a dark look my way and snapped, "Next time I tell
you there's too much magic to trust to a charm, will you
listen? You know blades. I know magic and--" I put a hand on his arm. Somebody was coming. I could hear her. Felt each footstep like an echo on my soul.
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