The Cold Burn of Magic – J. Estep

    

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade)

Apr 28, 2015

by Jennifer Estep

Cold Burn of Magic (Black Blade)

Apr 28, 2015

The Cold Burn of Magic – J. Estep

Book DescriptionPublication Date: April 28, 2015
There Be Monsters Here. . .
It's not as great as you'd think, living in a tourist town that's known as "the most magical place in America." Same boring high school, just twice as many monsters under the bridges and rival Families killing each other for power. 
I try to keep out of it. I've got my mom's bloodiron sword and my slightly illegal home in the basement of the municipal library. And a couple of Talents I try to keep quiet, including very light fingers and a way with a lock pick. 
But then some nasty characters bring their Family feud into my friend's pawn shop, and I have to make a call--get involved, or watch a cute guy die because I didn't. I guess I made the wrong choice, because now I'm stuck putting everything on the line for Devon Sinclair. My mom was murdered because of the Families, and it looks like I'm going to end up just like her. . .

I think that this is an excellent start to a new Young Adult series.  However, there are some gruesomely described and bloody scenes which some younger kids may be sensitive to. Also if you are familiar with Jennifer’s “Elemental Assassin” series, you may notice some slight parallels (the Mafia type family’s for one) between the two. For the older reader, this might be a fairly predictable story.  For the younger reader it will be a story filled with betrayals, fights and twisty turns – even a tiny bit of romance which is great for those readers who crave such.  I think the romance will be developed slowly and delicately.

The magical element to this book is for me, an interesting twist on what we usually see in these types of books. The characters are well developed, the story is just complicated enough to keep you engaged and the surprise ending to the mystery of just who was trying to take out Devon was just surprising enough without being over the top or too unbelievable. 

I enjoyed this book even though I am not the targeted audience and am looking forward to the next one in this series.