Magic Bites

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
Kate Daniels Series #1

Magic Bites is the first novel in the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. Kate is a tough as nails, no nonsense woman who has a mysterious heritage who lives in Georgia. In her world, magic comes and goes in waves. When the magic is up, technology fails. The magic does not like large structures and as a result, most of the high rises in Atlanta have been reduced to rubble. Kate works for a magical guild doing odds and ends magical jobs. When her guardian and mentor is brutally murdered she goes back to the one place she swore she never would, The Magical Order, where her guardian was a Knight. She uses their resources to investigate the murder and finds herself sucked into the world of the Pack in a fight for dominance she cannot afford to lose. Due to some bad decisions she winds up with a personal were protector. The deeper she gets into finding her guardian's killer, the more personal the fight becomes.

The book is very vague about Kate's history, only hinting that her heritage is very important. I found this frustrating at first, but as the book went on there was more than enough action in the plot to compensate for the confusion about her past. Kate has a very sarcastic personality and is killer with a sword, literally. Her sword, slayer is very special, as it eats undead flesh. I have to say my favorite point in the book is when she sticks her foot in her mouth and says "Here kitty, kitty, kitty" to the beast lord. You would think she had a death wish, but in one of the hints about her past it was implied that she was trained to never show fear. So when she is afraid, she compensates with her wit and sarcasm. Throughout the book she continues to get herself in trouble with her mouth and sometimes the only thing that saves her is her sword. I look forward to more of her wit and revelations as to who she really is in future books.

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Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, Book 1)