Magic to the Bone

Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk
ISBN# 978-0-451-46240-4
Available now
Published by ROC/Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Format: mm pbk., 355 pages
Genres: fiction, urban fantasy

This is Devon Monk's first novel as well as being the first in an as-of-yet unnamed series. Her short stories, however have been published in magazines and books spanning five countries. You can find her newest short stories in the anthologies Better Off Undead and Crime Spells (out in February). You can find a much more complete list of her short stories on her website under the heading, "short fiction".

Allison Beckstrom left the influence of her very wealthy and important father seven years ago never to return. Now she makes her living as a Hound, tracking illegal magic Offloads back to the caster, which is how she winds up confronting her father about a hit on a five year old boy. The next day she finds out, by way of newspaper, that her father's dead and apparently he died right after their meeting. Now she's trying to figure out what the heck is going on while hiding from other Hounds and cops that think she's the murderer. Zayvion Jones seems to show up when she needs him whether she's on the run or not, but since he used to stalk her for her father he can't really be trusted even though Allie can't seem to keep her hands off of him. She also runs across half-dead Cody (and Kitten) who claims to have been there when her father was killed, but something has been done to him where he regularly reverts to a child-like state. The clock is ticking and if Allie can't solve this mystery neither her or Cody will have to worry about anything ever again.

I like the magical system in this book, you gotta pay to play, and the legality issues that pop up because of it. My favorite character is Zayvion Jones because he has a lot of secrets and for some reason I get the sense that he may not be 100% human. The cover of this book is also very nice, love the tattoo. This book shows some great series potential if I read the second book.

While this series may wind up being great later on this book had quite a few problems for me. First is that I don't particularly like Allie. She may change in later books, but right now Mrs. Monk has mistaken cranky, snarky bitch with strong female protagonist. Secondly, memory loss is one of the ways magic can make you pay up and Allie seems to experience quite a bit of it so, if she's going to be asking the same questions in each book that could get old really fast. Potential readers should also know before they start, after everything is worked out Allie forgets the entire contents of this book.

Zhye