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#42: Magic Mourns by Ilona Andrews. Kate’s former partner at the Order (the people you call if the police can’t help), Andrea, accompanied by the werehyena who is smitten with her, battles Fido, a regenerating, unkillable Cerberus and teams up with Thanatos to prevent a necromancer from stealing one of the golden apples of Hera. Yeah, I know that’s gobbledygook, but it was a decent story featuring a character who doesn’t particularly like magic and prefers relying on guns and muscles to defeat evil. The character development is entertaining: she follows the rules and lets a species-ist asshole (Ted) bully her around because he’s technically the boss. She’s clearly capable of kicking ass and has tremendous unused potential but is crippled by childhood trauma. In this story, she starts to make some breakthroughs and I hope they continue. I seriously want to read the moment when she tells Ted exactly where he can shove his prejudices.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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#43: Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch by David Rosenfelt. In this installment, Andy Carpenter defends Jason Maddox, a homeless recovering addict accused of murdering a billionaire. Unlike other Carpenter murder mysteries, Andy’s dogs don’t play much of a role, other than being blamed for not insisting he turn down the case. There is one scene in which his golden retriever, Tara, accompanies Andy on a walk to the park when he know that he is bait for a mobster who plans to kill him, but she was never really in much danger. As always, the client is innocent, and as almost always happens, Andy doesn’t figure out who the real killer is until after the trial is over.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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#44: Magic Slays by Ilona Andrews. Kate is getting the hang of being part of/leading the Pack (about 1500 or so werenimals), and gaining their respect. She doesn’t miss her mercenary work, or the temporary role at “The Order,” especially when it becomes clear through a series of alarming attacks that there are sleeper cells of “pure” humans that have infliltrated their allies who are trying to wipe out everyone with any hint of magical association with a weapon. Kate figures out their identities and defeats the plot; her ward is seriously injured in the process and needs saving through extreme measures.
There’s a moment during a lull in the fighting where their medical practitioner is sitting with Kate while they wait to see whether her ward responds to treatment. He has a terrific monologue that resonated.
“Humans tend to segregate the world: enemies on one side, friends on the other. Friends are people we know. Enemies are the Other. You can do just about anything to the Other. It doesn’t matter if this Other is actually guilty of any crimes, because it’s a matter of emotion, not logic. You see, angry people aren’t interested in justice. They just want an excuse to vent their rage. And once you become their Other, you’re no longer a person. You’re just an idea, an abstraction of everything that’s wrong with their world. Give them the slightest excuse, and they will tear you down. And the easiest way for them to target you as this Other is to find something that’s different about you. Color of your skin. The way you speak. The place you’re from. Magic. It comes and goes in cycles, Kate. Each new generation picks their own Other.”
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
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#45: Magic Gifts by Ilona Andrews. Kate and her mate are enjoying a rare night out at a restaurant. A couple seated nearby appears to be enjoying a special occasion; the man giving the woman a gift. It is a gold collar necklace. She puts it on and it immediately contracts and chokes her to death. Still at the restaurant, aiding the authorities, Kate is there when the woman’s family arrives. The mother: clearly an evil witch, detaches the necklace from the woman and puts it on her son; the dead woman’s little brother. Complicated story with many distractions later, Kate quests, fights, and eventually finds the creator of the necklace and rescues the boy. She also manages to finalize several issues unresolved in previous stories.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes.
