This book is intense. Jack Winter, the mage, is a heroin addict because it’s the only way he’s found to turn off his sight, being able to see the dead. Pete Caldecott is a young detective inspector fighting her way out from under her father’s shadow at Scotland Yard.
The characters are the strength of this book, for me. The world building is quite strong, but Pete and Jack and their demons and their past, that’s the heart. I read this book in less than a day because I could not put it down. I just had to know what happened next (great, solid plot) but also because I cared. I wanted Jack to stay clean, I wanted Pete to save the missing children.
My biggest complaint with this book, frankly, is the cover. It looks like any other dark urban fantasy, really. But the renderings of Pete and Jack made me go, HUH? Ok, Jack is a heroin junky. He is not beefcake. I know that wouldn’t sell copies, but it honestly bothered me because he looks so wrong. And Pete looks like a constipated Elvira is a weirdly open shirt. Just, no.
I am nervous about reading the next one (but oh do I plan to) because it’s from Jack’s perspective and he’s frankly not a nice guy, so I’m worried about caring as much, but I’m not going to pre-judge. In fact, I’m curious to see how Kittredge builds off of SM and utilized the different viewpoint. She’s certainly quite talented.
