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Dirty Magic

Author: Visit Amazon's Jaye Wells Page | Language: English | ISBN: 0316228435 | Format: EPUB

Dirty Magic Description

Review

"Kate Prospero is my new favorite heroine-imperfect, haunted, driven, and dangerous."—New York Times bestseller Kevin Hearne

"Jaye Wells has created a fresh, magical world full of potion junkies and alchemists that promises to break new ground in paranormal thrillers."—Laurell K. Hamilton

"Dirty Magic is like nothing else currently happening in urban fantasy. Grim, gritty, and great."—Seanan McGuire

"Jaye Wells raises the urban fantasy bar with DIRTY MAGIC, a hard-boiled series debut as unique and surprising as the creatures and characters peopling it. Kate Prospero is charged with policing the Cauldron, a magical world so fully realized, and so gritty, it gets under your nails. Wells is known for deftly weaving non-stop action with no-holds barred humor, but the unique and deeply drawn relationships are the real alchemy here. DIRTY MAGIC showcases seasoned pro, Wells, at the top of her game, and establishes newcomer Kate Prospero as the urban fantasy heroine to beat."—New York Times Bestseller Vicki Pettersson

"Grim and gritty and completely fascinating."—Library Journal

"Hold on tight -- a gritty new heroine has joined the pantheon of shoot-first, ask-questions-later protagonists."—RT Book Reviews on Red-Headed Stepchild

"The next coming of Laurell K. Hamilton and Kim Harrison."—www.bn.com on The Mage in Black

"A fast-paced fun book"—New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris on Red-Headed Stepchild

"Last year, I wrote that Jaye Wells had the potential to be the next coming of Laurell K. Hamilton and Kim Harrison. This year, I'll amend that slightly: Jaye Wells is the next coming of LKH and Kim Harrison."—www.bn.com on Green-Eyed Demon

About the Author

Raised in Texas, USA Today bestseller Jaye Wells grew up reading everything she could get her hands on. Her penchant for daydreaming was often noted by frustrated teachers. She embarked on a series of random career paths, including stints working for a motivational speaker and at an art museum. Jaye eventually realized that while she loved writing, she found facts boring. So, she left all that behind to indulge her overactive imagination and make stuff up for a living. Besides writing, she enjoys travel, art, history, and researching weird and arcane subjects. She lives in Texas with her saintly husband and devilish son. Find out more about Jaye Wells at www.jayewells.com.

Product Details
Table of Contents
Reviews

Series: Prospero's War
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Orbit (January 21, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316228435
ISBN-13: 978-0316228435
Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

I got this book to review through NetGalley, so thanks to NetGalley and Orbit for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. Jaye Wells also writes the Sabina Kane urban fantasy series, which I have been wanting to read but haven’t had the chance to read. Dirty Magic is the first book in a new series by Wells set in a new world. It was a decent start to a new urban fantasy. I wasn’t enthralled with the characters, but as the story progressed I got more and more interested. I definitely think this has potential to become a great urban fantasy series.

Kate Prospero is on her standard nightly rounds in the city of Babylon when she runs across a woman being mauled by a werewolf-like creature. She shoots him in self-defense...but doing so draws the attention of the MEA (Magic Enforcement Agency). Suddenly Kate finds herself deeply involved in a case with the MEA that involves a deadly new dirty potion that is plaguing the Cauldron (rundown part of Babylon). To further complicate things Kate’s rich ex-boyfriend (John Volos) is one of the prime suspects.

This was a decent urban fantasy. I thought the setting was interesting, but never really was all that engaged with the main heroine. Things did get more interesting towards the end of the book, as our heroine started to get more involved in using her Adept magic. Up to that point though, this book was mostly a police procedural with some supernatural potion stuff thrown in.

Kate is a cop who has a sordid history as an Adept who made dirty potions for the Cauldron underground. She worked hard to free herself from the clutches of her mobster-like family. She is eager to help out the MEA, it will be a promotion for her and help her to really make a difference in stamping out dirty magic.

This review is based on the full version of the book, but it shouldn't spoil anything if you're reading the preview.

Kate Prospero is a beat cop in the fictional Rust Belt city of Babylon, patrolling a run-down area called The Cauldron. Instead of gangs selling drugs, Babylon has covens selling magic potions. Each coven practices a different kind of magic (blood, sex, etc.) and controls a different territory. Despite the supernatural elements, Babylon is a pretty realistic depiction of a Midwestern city struggling through a recession.

One night, Kate kills a potion junkie, who turns out to be a federal informant, and gets drawn into the investigation of a new potion that turns users into werewolf-like killing machines. Kate is ideal for the job because of her intimate knowledge of the covens. Her uncle ruled the Votary Coven, the alchemists, until his recent imprisonment, and Kate was once his protege. She left the coven and swore off all magic use, but her past has kept her from advancing in the police department. The Feds don't seem to have the same issues and allow her to work on their task force. Her new co-workers include hunky Agent Morales who has love-interest potential, and forensics wizard Mez, whose comfort level with his magic provides an interesting contrast to Kate's aversion.

The investigation also brings John Volos, her ex from her time in the coven, who is now a real estate mogul, back into her life. He reminds me of Trent Kalamack from early in The Hollows series: he's wealthy and well-connected and probably secretly up to no good, but there's no real proof of it. It's not really clear at this point in the series if either of them still have feelings for the other or if they can even trust each other.

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