Review: Magic Bites

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As someone who is typically not a fan of dystopian future stories, I was surprised I liked this book as much as I did. It's probably around a 3.5 stars for me, but sets the world up nicely for future installments. This is clearly the start of a series type book, where we get a lot of introduction, a solid story, and some loose ends to make you wonder and pick up the next one.

Kate is a tough, gritty, no-nonsense mercenary with a mysterious and magical history who finds herself drawn into a the last place she wants to be - The Order. She left them after determining that she didn't want to compromise herself and her goals, but the death of her guardian sends them right to their door, demanding they let her investigate. Throw in some vampires, some shapeshifters, and even a date or two, and you've got the complicated world of Kate Daniels.

What started out as a relatively straightforward mystery ends up getting twisted and turned into something significantly larger. Kate's level of damage along the way definitely rivals Harry Dresden's. The two have a bit of similarity - what with the sarcasm, magic, and mayhem - but I think Kate has a little more... edge. I can't wait to see where she ends up after a few books. She's already starting to build up her supernatural reputation which could be good or bad for her (or both).

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