Magic Bleeds by Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels (#4)
Rating: ★★★★★
Kate Daniels works for the Order of Knights of Merciful Aid, officially as a liaison with the mercenary guild. Unofficially, she cleans up the paranormal problems no one else wants to handle – especially if they involve Atlanta’s shapeshifting community.
When she’s called in to investigate a fight at the Steel Horse, a bar on the border between the territories of the shapeshifters and the necromancers, Kate quickly discovers that there’s a new player in town. One who’s been around for thousands of years – and who rode to war at the side of Kate’s father. This foe may be too much even for Kate and Curran, the Beast Lord, to handle. Because this time Kate will be taking on family.
Book 0.5: A Questionable Client
Book 1: Magic Bites
Book 2: Magic Burns
Book 3: Magic Strikes
Book 3.5: Magic Mourns
Book 4: Magic Bleeds
Book 4.5: Magic Dreams
Book 5: Magic Slays
Book 5.4: Magic Gifts
Book 5.5: Gunmetal Magic
Book 6: Magic Rises
Book 7: Magic Breaks
Book 8: Magic Shifts
Book 8.5: Magic Stars
After the end of Magic Strikes, I was so eager to start this book. It seemed like finally everything we’d been waiting for between Curran and Kate was going to happen.
And then I sat, alongside Kate, as it all came shattering down. Curran didn’t show. Curran didn’t take her call. Kate was hurt, and devastated, and then she got mad. I was right there with her.
It’s hard to talk about this book without a lot of spoilers. The plot – again – is tightly written and the pacing is spot on. I could hardly catch my breath while I read. Everyone got in on the action here – the Masters of the Dead, the shapeshifters, the Order and the Guild – no one was safe.
And then there’s the villain. So utterly perfect, and terrifying. The stakes keeping getting ramped up, and the opponents keep getting more difficult to deal with. Ilona Andrews is doing a superb job of ratcheting up the suspense in the lead up to what we all know has to come eventually for Kate; the thing she’s been training her whole life for.
Though I didn’t get the payout I wanted at the beginning of Magic Bleeds, I definitely got satisfaction. Watching Kate and Curran circle each other, tease each other, and go through their own mating ritual made me grin, laugh out loud, and so incredibly happy when they finally figured out how to make it work.
The final showdown, I can’t even begin to talk about, but it had me on the edge of my seat. Then when it was done, they went and ripped my heart out, stomped on it a couple of times, and handed me back the mushy remains.
Magic Bleeds proves that Ilona Andrews is in top form. These books just get better on re-reads, and I love going back to visit with all of the beloved characters.
[…] Book 0.5: A Questionable Client Book 1: Magic Bites Book 2: Magic Burns Book 3: Magic Strikes Book 4: Magic Bleeds […]