Title: Black Magic
Series: Black Records Book #1
Author: Mark Feenstra
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Blurb: Using her magic to help others is the only way Alex Black knows how to stay out of trouble herself. After years of living on the street and trying to come to terms with the growing ability she had to teach herself to control, she’s happy to have settled into the relatively quiet life of finding lost pets, crafting the odd charm, and helping people deal with annoying fae creatures and spirits.
But when Alex is asked to investigate the gruesome murder of an artifact dealer who’d lost his life trying to protect his latest acquisition, she’s thrown headlong into a world of danger that threatens to cut her career short at every turn. The closer she gets to tracking down the killer, the more dangerous the trail becomes, and the more Alex realizes what terrible things will happen if the true potential of the artifact is ever unleashed.
If you’re a fan of the Dresden Files or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you’ll love following along as the ever-sarcastic Alex Black takes on supernatural beings like vampires, fae, and evil wizards.
Thoughts: Black Magic is an urban fantasy novel featuring Alex Black, who we are introduced to when she is investigating the mysterious death of an artifact dealer. The storyline was a strong one and it was very original and interesting. Along the same lines as other novels in this genre, Alex lends her amazing survival to her odd cast of misfit friends. What is missing is some type of charismatic romantic love interest or soon-to-be love interest – I mention this solely because for some readers who are looking for a great urban fantasy read without any romantic entanglements, this is a plus. For me personally, I enjoy a slow-burning romantic aspect to my books – even if it plays a minimally small role in the overall story. I definitely missed that in this book, and kind of felt like I was waiting for a new character to appear the whole time that would take on that role, but it never happened. That’s not to take anything away from the author, however, who did a great job with the storytelling in this first book in the series. Feenstra did a great job and for me this was a really strong urban fantasy, so if you are a fan of this genre I imagine you will have a great new one-click author to add to your list!
Rate: B+
The second and third books (Black Market and Black Ice) are also available in this series now!
