Book 42, 2018

Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Over the weekend, I read Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews. The book is set in the authors' "Kate Daniels" series, but it features Andrea Nash as the main character. Andrea is a former member of the Order, a beastkin hyena, and Kate's best friend.

When four members of the Pack are murdered, Andrea is tasked with investigating. To do so, she'll have to face Raphael, her mate, whom she's on shaky ground with. Andrea isn't sure where their relationship is going, or if they even still have a relationship. Nevertheless, she is a professional above all, and she is determined to do her job. Raphael complicates matters when he shows up to Andrea's office, with a blond bimbo in tow. Now, not only does she have four murders to solve, she must also deal with jealousy and feelings of inadequacy. Lucky for Andrea, she has to fight her way through her investigation.

Andrea has bigger problems than her love life, however. One of her suspects turns out to be an actual god. He claims to need her help to defeat a cult that is trying to resurrect their own god--the god of Chaos. If they succeed, humankind will cease to exist. Andrea isn't without resources. Her allies include Ascanio, a teenage, full-of-himself hyena shapeshifter, Roman, a priest of a god of darkness, and Raphael. If she and Raphael can manage not to kill one another, they may just have a chance.

Excellent story! I thoroughly enjoyed reading something from Andrea's point of view, especially when Kate flitted through the narrative. It was refreshing to see her from someone else's perspective. Andrea's interactions with Ascancio were hilarious, and her encounters with Roman were, as well. As for Raphael, their bickering was amusing, but it was also heart-breaking to see how much they still loved one another but were too proud to admit it. The action rocketed along, fight scenes were gritty and gory, and everything came together nicely at the end.

Favorite lines:
♦ I should probably rethink running around in beastkin shape, especially if I kept getting bloody. All my witnesses seemed to be disturbed by it.
♦ "If I was dead, and the ferryman needed a coin to take me across the river to the afterlife, and you had the only quarter in existence, I'd tell you to stick it up your ass."
♦ When I went off the rails, I didn't do it halfway. No, I flipped a few times, caught a lot of air, and then exploded in a fiery crash.
♦ "No. I promised you a cup of tea; we will drink that tea, God damn it."
♦ We stared at each other. The level of politeness had risen to dangerous levels.
♦ "Does Strawberry Shortcake know you stole her horse? She will be berry, berry angry with you."

It takes talent to keep up that line of jocularity among all of the blood and gore!

Loved it, and I hope to read more of Andrea's adventures. Five stars!

*****

Book 43, 2018

Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



After reading Gunmetal Magic, I took the time this morning to read the novella included at the end. It was Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews, and it's also part of the "Kate Daniels" series. The novella, however, followed Kate and Curran, and it happened in the same time frame as Gunmetal Magic.

Kate and Curran plan to go out for dinner and just relax and enjoy themselves for once. Their date goes pear-shaped when a young man at a neighboring table gives a necklace to his date, and it chokes her to death. Now, the vampires that the two were navigating are loose, and they storm the restaurant in search of fresh blood. Kate and Curran dispatch the vampires, but now they have to field questions from the police, the People, and the victim's family. When the necklace is removed from the girl's throat, her father reaches for it in a trance, but the mother snatches it away and claps it on her young son's neck, instead. She seems uncaring of his fate, which compels Kate and Curran to take the boy with them, in hopes of removing the necklace before it hungers again and kills him.

What should have been a simple task turns out to be more than they bargained for. The necklace is magic, and covered with runes. In order to decipher the runes, Kate and Curran must deal with the People (those who pilot vampires), a band of neo-Vikings, an undead Viking warrior, and a metal-working dwarf. At some point, Kate must also deal with the Guild and clean up the shit show it has turned into. All in a day's work for the Beast Lord and his Consort.

Another fantastic installment to this verse. I always enjoy Kate and Curran's bickering, as well as Kate's snarky sense of humor.

Favorite lines:
♦ Jim looked like he was carved from a block of solid muscle. Logic said that at some point he must've been a baby and then a child, but looking at him one was almost convinced that some deity had touched the ground with its scepter and proclaimed, "There shall be a badass," and Jim had sprung into existence, fully formed, complete with clothes, and ready for action.
♦ "Best date ever. Well, until people died and vampires showed up. But before that it was awesome."
♦ "It's hard to believe, but I go whole days without worrying about your likes and dislikes."
♦ Next to the vampire cantered a freakishly large black poodle. His name was Grendel, he was my dog, and while he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, he loved me and he was handy in a fight. A few dozen yards behind us, an enormous lion trotted. When shapeshifters transformed, their animal forms were always larger than their natural counterparts, and Curran the Lion wasn't just large. He looked prehistoric. Colossal, gray, with faint darker stripes staining his fur like whip marks, he moved along the road at an easy pace, seemingly tireless. Which is why I'd ended up with The Dude. I had walked into the stables and told them I'd be traveling between a vampire and a lion the size of a rhino and I needed a horse that wouldn't freak out. True to the stable master's recommendation, The Dude seemed unflappable. Occasionally, when Curran flanked us, he would flare his nostrils a bit while the other horses shied and made panicked noises, but mostly The Dude just pounded his way forward in a straight line, convinced that the lion was a figment of his imagination and that the vampire ahead of him was just Grendel's deformed mutant brother. We were our own three-ring circus.
♦ Some men got excited by white lace and a translucent negligee. My love muffin got excited by a woman dressed to murder.

Sorry, not sorry, but that long paragraph deserved to be immortalized.

:D

Automatic five stars!

*****


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