Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, 1 by Ilona Andrews
This was a CONFUSING book. I've really started to get into the urban noir/paranormal drama scene but every so often it throws me for a loop. This was definitely one of those books.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary with affiliations at the local Order in Atlanta. When the Knight Diviner of the Order (a father figure named Greg) is found dead Kate promises herself that she'll find the killer and avenge Greg's death. Kate bumbles about a bit seeking information and pissing off a couple of suspects / allies before determining that the real enemy is a creature called a upir.
The upir is basically a beast that will copulate with anything in the hope of creating a male child that the upir will nourish with the offspring's mother. (Eew!) Only someone very strong will be able to bear the upir's child and it has set it's sight on Kate because of her strong magical background, which we don't know about because Kate won't talk about it. We do know that it has to do with who her father is and how strong that makes her blood. No normal weapon can kill the upir and so Kate is stuck trying to figure out how to kill the beast before it gets her. Kate does have an ally or two -- in particular the Beast Lord aka Curran. Curran is immensely strong and controls all of the shapeshifters in the Atlanta / Southern region. He can shift into a huge lion-like creature and helps take on the upir and a vampiress named Olathe. I like him as a foil for Kate and they fight and tick each other off at every chance they get.
This was a CONFUSING book. I've really started to get into the urban noir/paranormal drama scene but every so often it throws me for a loop. This was definitely one of those books.
Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary with affiliations at the local Order in Atlanta. When the Knight Diviner of the Order (a father figure named Greg) is found dead Kate promises herself that she'll find the killer and avenge Greg's death. Kate bumbles about a bit seeking information and pissing off a couple of suspects / allies before determining that the real enemy is a creature called a upir.
The upir is basically a beast that will copulate with anything in the hope of creating a male child that the upir will nourish with the offspring's mother. (Eew!) Only someone very strong will be able to bear the upir's child and it has set it's sight on Kate because of her strong magical background, which we don't know about because Kate won't talk about it. We do know that it has to do with who her father is and how strong that makes her blood. No normal weapon can kill the upir and so Kate is stuck trying to figure out how to kill the beast before it gets her. Kate does have an ally or two -- in particular the Beast Lord aka Curran. Curran is immensely strong and controls all of the shapeshifters in the Atlanta / Southern region. He can shift into a huge lion-like creature and helps take on the upir and a vampiress named Olathe. I like him as a foil for Kate and they fight and tick each other off at every chance they get.
I particularly liked the scene near the end where Kate was being offered a job over the phone and Curran was fixing her roof (that he broke earlier in the book) and Kate was told that she had been recommended by the Beast Lord. Kate breaks away from her phone conversation to yell at him about what he'd said to them and he replied that he had told them she was disciplined, a team player and was able to follow order - all things Kate doesn't do well at all. So she had to tell the person on the phone that the Beast Lord is a liar, that she doesn't exactly play well with others and that the Beast Lord can't hammer worth sh*t (because he's there on her roof trying to hammer down shingles).
Kate's audacity in the face of danger was really kind of impressive. I also enjoyed the part where she was with the Order's Crusader (Nick) and Curran about to bust into the upir's lair and she had to will herself to go in. She was scared and she knew it but wasn't willing to back down. Curran kissed her to piss her off and it brought back her anger and her courage. I'm sure there's more to come on that front in the next book.
Where it got really confusing was some of the wording about the upir -- at one point Kate figures out who it is and I thought she was able to contain him with a ward of bone and wood but then later she sees the guy she named on the street watching something (or so I thought)... and then later she captures something that must have been one of his minions but I thought she had said it WAS the upir. That whole section after she first figures out who the upir is really had me confused but most of it was clear by the end. I'll probably want to go back and do some careful rereading now that I know how it's supposed to go.
I think the next one should be worth reading since Kate has more "friends" now and a job all lined up. I can't wait to see how that goes...
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