My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the second in the Kate Daniels series — set in an Atlanta grinding down through returning waves of magic. The world-building here remains well done, and Kate remains a merc who sense of responsibility and sass gets herself into plenty of trouble (and whose determination, friends, and occasional glimpse at hidden power, gets her back out). In this case, she’s dealing with with some rogue Celtic magic, a young girl who’s lost her mother, and a possible demon invasion of Atlanta during the next peak magic.
Beyond an enjoyable story, Andrews manages to keep the secrets beyond Kate still largely under wraps (we learn some more teasing snippets, but by no means all or even most of the picture). That’s more restraint than a lot of authors show. Similarly restrained is the sex — while Kate’s clearly both tired of no men in her life, and there are a couple of tempting possibilities, she (for excellent reasons) refrains. Again, that sort of writerly discipline is rare in the urban fantasy medium, which seems as much influenced by bodice-ripper romances as classic fantasy.
Good stuff. Looking forward to the next volume.