5 stars for Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels book 3) by Ilona Andrews |《Reread》.
Magic Strikes. My all-time favourite. It feels so good to re-live this story again. Not only that, everything becomes so much clearer. Names and characters that I have glazed over the first time round get my full attention now.
Most books take one year to be written, edited and published. The same goes books in a series. In this sense, the authors did a great job to provide an excellent summary of Kate's world within the first couple of pages in Chapter one. Memory refresh is important because most readers would have lost touch during the year and need some prompting to be reminded of the base story again.
The husband and wife tag-team authors did it really well. They reminded readers about technology and magic, how they typically switch at least once every couple of days, usually more often than that. And then, about the three enforcement agencies that regulated life - the Military Supernatural Defense Unit (MSDU), the Paranormal Activity Division (PAD) and the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid (Kate's illustrious employer). This is followed by the power brokers of Atlanta - the People (the Masters of the Dead who navigate the vampires) and the Pack (the Shapeshifters). Finally, a reminder about the various characters the series cannot do without - Jim, Kate's partner from her days when she worked for the Mercenary Guild, who is also alpha of the cat clan and the Pack's chief of security; Saiman, a shapeshifter of sorts who has an encyclopedic knowledge of magic, a magic expert in short; and Derek, Kate's one-time teenage werewolf sidekick.
It is very easy to like Kate. She is a great kick-ass heroine. She packs a mean punch, fights well and is powerful in her own ways. She is a tough girl with a heart. The heart part did it for me. The author shows readers that no matter how tough Kate is or aspires to be, deep down, she is just a girl, a human girl who is not without fear, just that she masks them well.
By revealing Kate's inner conversations and thought processes, the authors bring Kate closer to readers and show us how she covers up her fears and weakneses through anger and blabbing. To quote "The man made an odd hooting sound that raised the tiny hairs on the back of my neck.." Another quote "This one was old. No sign of it ever walking upright remained. It waited on all fours, like a dog that has somehow sprouted humanoid limbs tipped with stiletto claws. The lasting lingering echoes of its humanity had faded long ago. It had become a thing, so revolting alien and frightening it sent shivers down my spine." As to Kate's witty blabbing to cover up her discomfort especially in the presense of the Beast Lord, it will not do to quote them here. Readers have to read them by themselves in the context of Kate Daniels vs Your Majesty, otherwise, I will be doing injustice to Kate.
This book revolves around Hindu mythology. I wonder if the authors are already well-versed in the different mythologies prior to writing Kate Daniels series. If not, I cannot imagine the amount of research they need to do to spin such a beautiful story.
Next up book four Magic Bleeds.
Publisher: Ace
Publication date: 31 Mar 2009
*** Favourite Quote 1 ***
When we first met, he had been pretty. Now he was slowly edging on handsome and promising to develop into a champion heartbreaker. His eyes especially posed danger to anything female: huge, dark and defined by eyelashes so long they cast shadows onto his cheeks.
*** Favourite Quote 2 ***
I took the ball of guilt and fear that threatened to engulf me and stuffed it away, deep into the recesses of my mind.
*** Favourite Quote 3 ***
The rows of seats, empty an hour before, were filled to capacity. Individuals in their own lives, here the spectators melded into a single entity, a loud, furious, excitable beast with a thousand throats. The night was young and the beast was fickle and bloodthirsty.
~ Magic Strikes
Kate Daniels
@}--->>--->>-----
Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with these days. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.
But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games – an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament – she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…
*Blurb from Goodreads*
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