October 2011, Penguin,
384 pages, Paperback
Review copy
Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Themes: families, true friendship, taking risks, hunted, injustice, personal journeys and discovery, sunshine after rain and vice versa, funky powers, knitting! cute cat, a balance of thrills and fun, 2ish strong adult romance scenes, lots of humour
Summary from Penguin
"Using magic, meant it used you back. Forget the fairytale hocus pocus, sparkles and pixie dust crap. Magic, like booze, sex and drugs, gave as good as it got"
Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user, maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster - and Allie Beckstrom is the best there is.
Daughter of a prominent Portland businessmen, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune - and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic...
Nayuleska's thoughts
I've found a book which vies alongside one of my top favourites (which are by Maria V Schnyder). Allie is instantly likeable, probably more so because I share a lot of character traits with her and her friend. (I adore knitting fingerless gloves). I love the concepts of magic, and how it all works. What happens to Allie is terrifyingly awesome, and feels as if it could happen in our world. There is a lot of danger in the story, but it isn't all encompassing - there's almost always a sense of hope soon after dark moments, especially at the end.
It will be a long wait to January to read the sequel to this 11/10 book. Yes, 11. I'm miscounting on purpose. I want to reread the book already (but I have a stack which need my attention first).
Check out Devon's website for more about her books
Suggested read
For an equally fun read (with vampires) try Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill.
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