Book Title: Magic in the Shadows
Book Author: Devon Monk
Book Publisher: Roc
Release Date: November 3, 2009
Retail Price: $7.99
Buy it at: Various Outlets

Book three was...interesting. Not quite on par with its predecessors, akin to a calm before a storm (pun semi-intended). I'm not a big fan of reading about the calm bits before a storm, which made this book a bit slower of a read than the previous two. (Spoilers: The plot does pick up after this book and becomes more engaging and worth reading.)

Every series has a weakest link, and I think this book might be the one for the Allie Beckstrom series. With six books out already and another three to go, I find it unlikely that Devon Monk will drop the magical ball in one of the last books.

The silver lining in this book, for me, was Shame. A bit of a jerk, a bit pretentious, and surprisingly durable, Shame adds a bit of life to this somewhat listless book, which is amusing as he's a death magic user.

Another character I enjoy is Stone. I'm a fan of gargoyles in general, and the concept of a magically powered gargoyle amuses me greatly. Who wouldn't want a half-ton stone creature to keep you company and stack all your worldly possessions into piles everywhere? I would definitely try to train it to build a house of cards. Or maybe just to help stack my pile of books to be read. That'd be nice too.

And with the hints of political unrest between Authority members, Pack members, and even some police for good measure, there's a lot of promise for the next installment of the series to live up to. It's enough to get me to read book four, Magic on the Storm. Thankfully the next book kicks things up a notch or three, so if this book really wasn't your cup of proverbial tea, try book four anyway. You just might be re-hooked into Monk's world. (And if this wasn't your cup of actual tea, that's good. Books are for reading, not drinking.)

If you've enjoyed the previous two books, this one is still worth a read just to keep appraised of the growing unrest amongst those living and dead (and even those not quite living or dead). You could attempt to skip the book and move on the the fourth, but several plot points would be lost in translation. I still recommend it if your a fan of Monk's writing style.