Review: Counterfeit Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Counterfeit Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Women of the Otherwold Novella

The first rule of a supernatural fight club? Don't kill your opponent.

When the fighters come with lethal spells, werewolf strength and half-demon powers, that can be a lot tougher than it sounds. It's hard to attract talent if they know they might not leave the ring alive. So when fighters at a California club start dying -- it's bad for business.

Witch detectives Paige Winterbourne and Savannah Levine take the case. Going undercover in the power-heavy arena of the fight club is a welcome change of pace for Paige, relegated to the role of The Wife as her husband struggles to find his place in his family's Cabal--the corporate Mafia of the supernatural world.

As Paige is drawn deeper into new and dangerous corners of her world, she quickly discovers the greatest threat isn't the killer in her sights. It's something much, much closer to home. And this is one fight she can't afford to lose.

This book was sold more as a collector's piece rather than as a book in itself, as the page count would be very low. The previous installment that Subterranean Press released, Angelic, cannot be found for less than $150 for the trade edition and well over $300 for the limited. So, when I saw that another one would be coming out, I had to snatch a copy of both versions before they sold out. That being said, I wasn't really expecting a whole lot on the story end as I bought it for the collecting aspect. After reading the novella, I can honestly say I was pleasantly surprised. It packs a surprising amount of emotion in small amount of pages and is a nice companion story to the rest of the series. That being said I don't recommend it to anyone who hasn't read the rest of the series as there is no setup at all in relation to the characters.

For those not interested in this as a collector's aspect, don't worry as nothing major happens that will make you feel like you are missing something in future books. It was just a very nice "bonus" story. The cover itself is gorgeous as well as the illustrations inside. The limited leather bound version is especially nice well worth the extra price. All in all, this novella was definitely worth the purchasing if you are an avid Kelley Armstrong fan, and will make a great addition to your shelf.

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