Shiloh Harrison, Federal Marshal in the Paranormal
Investigators Unit, just got back from an assignment. She is
looking at a night of hot sex with her boyfriend Vincent,
and a welcome three-day break, when her phone rings; it's
business, of course. The agency's third in command, Novak,
informs her that their boss is missing, and there is a
situation that requires her immediate attention: a Master
vampire is holding a trailer park hostage. But there's
more: vampires and werewolves have disappeared in the past
six months, and it is only the tip of the iceberg; something
nefarious is afoot.
STRAY MAGIC is the first book of Strays
, and it promises to be a great one! Humans have
known about vampires and werewolves for several decades, but
the other paranormals have remained closeted: Shiloh is half
djinn, Novak is an incubus, the two other members of the
team are Kathleen a half vampire, and Jaxon a stag
skinwalker (how awesome is that!). While Kelly Medin's
paranormal beings correspond for the most part to what we
are used to, their social structures and hierarchies differ
somewhat, and some of it is terribly exciting. I felt there
was a bit of info dumping at the beginning, which is often
unavoidable when one has a whole world to build, but it
didn't slow down the pace and I got used to it quickly.
Speaking of pace: I am astounded that the author could
elegantly maintain the punishing pace at which the action
unfolds; there is not a single moment of respite, and this
accomplished without undue frenzy; it simply never stops
until the ending that will knock your socks off!
STRAY MAGIC is told in the first person from Shiloh's point
of view, and she is awesome! She felt very real to me:
she's a dedicated federal agent, she acts rationally, she
doesn't have annoying little quirks or sayings, she is not
needlessly violent; Shiloh is in fact rather different from
what urban fantasy heroines I have seen, she is more
relatable, in my opinion. She is a badass, but not to such
extreme that she comes off as invincible, although she has
some amazing powers. The Master vampire who is causing the
trouble, Woodrow Tennyson, is one of the most mesmerizing,
fascinating, enthralling creatures to ever appear in a book.
I could nearly feel his presence, his power, his aura, and
what writing skills it takes to accomplish that! And his
hair! I won't say a word about it, but what visuals! The
dialogues are also outstanding, and again I was struck at
how different Tennyson's voice is, compared to the other
characters: his speech is formal, precise, and slightly
stilted, while everyone else speaks like you and me. He is
dangerously irresistible. And a bit annoying to Shiloh, with
all his rules and regulations.
I love the camaraderie within the Paranormal Unit, and they
are not merely embellishments to make Shiloh look good; they
form a real team, and they are all great individuals with
their own "specialties"; Novak's are particularly original;
oh the possibilities! There are some startling plot twists
throughout, and more to come. While STRAY MAGIC does not end
on a cliffhanger per se, the story arc will continue in the
next installment (plural, I hope!). How exciting to discover
a fresh new urban fantasy series to look forward to!
Shiloh Harrison was hoping for a few days off to recover
from a particularly nasty assignment, preferably with the
help of the talented hands (and, well, the rest of his body
too) of her sexy boyfriend, Vincent. But when a group of
vampires takes an entire trailer park hostage, there's
nothing to do but make her apologies and get to the
scene.
Such is the life of a Federal Marshal in the
Paranormal Investigators Unit.
Yet this isn't like
her typical track-and-nab case: something is going on that
has vampires scared, and it takes all her strength
not to imagine what could frighten such powerful
creatures. Unfortunately, she doesn't have that option. Her
boss is MIA, someone is snatching vampires, and there's a
ticking clock that can only end one way: a
bloodbath.
Unless she can stop it.
The first
book in a new series, Stray Magic is a dark and
sexy mystery, with enough twists and curves to keep you on
the edge of your seat until the very end.
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