Book: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Kate is a Merc of the Guild, who gets called in to help clean up magical messes in a future time where magic and technology are both unreliable at best, switching back and forth between which is in effect from moment to moment. In this first of the series she is caught between the People (vampires) and the Pack (shapechangers) while investigating the violent murder of her guardian, the Knight-Diviner of the Order.

Andrews representation of vampires was a different take, making them more expendable creatures controlled by the People, vs. being central characters that are able to think and act for themselves. The shapechangers are of many different breeds, all united under one Lord of the Beasts.

The story is full of magic, and what you have to do to compensate when the magic suddenly fizzles. This is a common occurrence as waves magic roll through, disrupting all things technological, cars, lights, everything, only to inconveniently disappear and let technology take back over. Kate and crew are often forced to resort to means that have to work in either situation.

Kate herself is a mystery, constantly referring to an elusive heritage that never gets explained. I hope that there is more on this in the future (I already have book two, Magic Burns here to read), and maybe also more on the Order, as we only saw a few characters from them this time.

I definitely recommend this one to anyone who is into the urban fantasy style that has become so popular lately.

Check out Ilona Land the website of Gordon and Ilona Andrews!