Allison Beckstrom: magical PI in Portland, daughter to the creator of magical power lines, and currently living in a run-down dump of an apartment getting hunted by Hounds, police, magic users, and anything else that's disgruntled and wants to fight. There's more to this girl than meets the eye and, at around six feet tall, there's a lot to meet the eye.

Book Title: Magic to the Bone
Book Author: Devon Monk
Book Publisher: Roc
Release Date: November 4, 2008
Retail Price: $7.99
Buy it at: Amazon (for convenience sake)

Magic to the Bone focuses on Allison Beckstrom's quest to find out just who's framed her for murder, and how. Add to the mystery one Zayvion Jones, a man who is considerably more than he seems, and he seems to be a lot. Allie's quest isn't made easy, what with gun toting Hounds (think magical private eye rather than Snoopy) tracking her, the police wanting her in custody, and one creepy dude with a penchant for snake imagery. (Seriously, Snake Dude creeps me out.)

The characters, both main and secondary, come alive in Monk's writing style. From the semi-intimidating Mamma to Vivian Beckstrom, Allie's mother-in-law (One of them anyway. That's a whole mess within itself). The stream-of-consciousness style of Allie's thoughts keeps the plot rolling along, keeping me entertained along the way. And even though the reader gets a slight over the shoulder style view of the plot, the climax and resolution were still one heck of a kicker.

And I like that. It made me want to pick up the sequel within minutes of setting down this one. It's rare for a series to hook me like that. I'll usually read the first book and think about reading the second if I have it on hand. Otherwise, I'll just move to something else, without getting too upset about leaving off with a cliffhanger.

And as the first book in the series, it works as a standalone piece. Yes, it's open ended, with a war brewing between mysterious people of mysterious mysteriousness (pretty sure they're not ninjas, though). And there's the whole magical love connection between Allie and Zayvion that may or may not be more than just physical. And just how does the most influential magical scientist just die? Daniel Beckstrom may not have invented magic, or founded it, but he did harness, control, and market magical containment (think plumbing or electrical lines, but for magic). No way is he just going to stay out of the picture after his body stops ticking. (See, all sorts of potential for the rest of the series to play with.)

To some it may seem like an odd way to recommend this series, but if you enjoy any of Roc's other series that they're publishing (Anything by Faith Hunter for example) then you'll enjoy this series as well. Somewhat similar plot styles in a female main character with powers somewhat more unique than the other powerful people that eventually get in main character's way. Shenanigans ensue, usually blood is involved at some point, not always the main character's. And there are no guarantees that everything is going to end well or that everyone's going to live. It's refreshing and keeps me reading, to make sure my favorite character doesn't bite the dust.