A magical Philip Marlowe – #UrbanFantasy #Review #Giveaway @GameOverStation

Blurb

Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire. He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother.

So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything.

Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.

Reluctantly, Finch agrees to help, only to discover something sinister has been brewing in town while he ignored the world… He’ll need to dust off all his old skills and magic before it’s too late.

Excerpt

Finch sighed.

Right as he was about to turn to head inside, a loud crack rang out across the parking lot.

Blood splattered across the Nissan. Dr. Colton hit the side of the vehicle and tumbled to the asphalt, a hole in the side of his chest, his brown outfit quickly soaking in crimson.

Another crack, and Finch understood what was happening. Someone was shooting at them. Somewhere far off. Only rifles made that harsh kind of bang that sounded like something cracking in half.

Bree didn’t even have time to cry out. She fell forward, shot in the back, and hit the ground hard.

A third shot was coming, but Finch didn’t give the shooter a chance.

Finch manipulated time itself.

Everything froze. The leaves in the trees, the cars on the distant road—even the wind.

Then the color drained from the world, turning it into a black-and-white movie devoid of all vibrancy. The shadows were pitch black, and the sky a pool of pristine white.

One by one, all the nearby objects melted away, unraveled by Chronos’s powerful and disturbing time magic. The university disappeared. The cars disappeared. Even the people—Bree and Dr. Colton—until there was nothing left but an empty, white void.

Finch’s body jerked. He blinked his eyes.

And then he was back in his bed, dressed in his ratty pajamas, flailing around in the sheets. He sat up, his heart hammering.

His phone displayed the time.

4:34am.

Review by Lisabet Sarai

Adair Finch is a warlock. Through his bargains with gods, djinn and other magical creatures, he has acquired a variety of special powers, including the ability to rewind time and to unleash a lethal firestorm upon his enemies. In the past, Adrian worked as a private investigator, applying his capabilities to assist the police in solving crimes with a supernatural component.

That was when he cared. Now, burdened by the death of his brother Carter, Adair is barely alive. Mired in despair and guilt, he huddles in his filthy apartment, isolated and brooding, trying to shut out the world.

When the world comes knocking on his door in the person of twelve year old witch Bree Blackstone, however, he can’t suppress his impulse to help. Bree’s mother Vera, one of Adair’s former friends, has been killed, right in front of Bree’s eyes. Following her mother’s past instructions, she has come seeking the assistance of Adair or Carter Finch.

Adair doesn’t want to get involved, but his sense of responsibility overcomes his misery and inertia. With Bree in tow, he sets out to unravel the complicated circumstances that led to Vera’s murder. His main weapon is the fact that he, and anyone he marks with the special sigil of Chronos, can go back in time and replay events, possibly making different decisions or taking different actions, as many times as necessary.

Time-Marked Warlock creates a fascinating world in which magical and non-magical beings co-exist, albeit uneasily. Witches are born with power, the nature of which depends on their phase of the moon. Warlocks acquire power by making pacts with spirits, demons, gods or other supernatural entities, binding those entities to one of their five cores: the crown, the eyes, the heart, the soul and the loins. The bound magic takes its toll; power providers make their own demands in return.

Adair’s an appealing character, the classic disillusioned and cynical private investigator with a heart of gold. Imagine Philip Marlowe with magical abilities. But it’s Bree who steals the show. Strong, sassy, determined and opinionated, she browbeats Adair into performing good deeds that have little to do with the murder case. As she learns more about the nature of being a warlock, she decides to become one herself, making a pact with the mischief spirit Kullthantarrick the Sneak.

Kull is a fabulous fictional creation. Although she can shift her shape at will (she’s partial to appearing as a fox, a cat or a pigeon), she has no physical body. Smart and sarcastic, Kull has the best lines in the book by far. Though overall this isn’t a humorous novel, her commentary frequently had me laughing out loud.

Kull longs to inhabit a human form, even though she knows this will erase her immortality. She and Bree bond, beyond their magical pact. Again and again, Adair finds himself almost helpless in confronting their joint wills.

I found the murder plot a bit confusing and overly complicated, but I suppose that the story required this. Adair resets time again and again, returning to the moment when Bree banged on his door. In each cycle he delves more deeply into the circumstances responsible for Vera’s death and comes closer to identifying the perpetrators.

By the time he puts the whole story together, he’s exhausted and to be honest, so was I. The interactions between Bree and Adair, which gradually result in the healing of his damaged soul, were far more interesting to me than the battles of supernatural factions.

All in all, I enjoyed Time-Marked Warlock. It’s original and engaging, with a distinctively different view of the supernatural and quirky, sympathetic characters. If you like urban fantasy, give it a try.

About the Author

Shami Stovall is a multi-award-winning author of fantasy and science fiction. Before that, she taught history and criminal law at the college level, and loved every second. When she’s not reading fascinating articles and books about ancient China or the Byzantine Empire, Stovall can be found playing way too many video games, especially RPGs and tactics simulators, or hugging John.

If you want to contact her, you can do so at the following locations:

Website: https://sastovallauthor.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/GameOverStation/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SAStovall/

Email: s.adelle.s [at] gmail [dot] com

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Time-Marked-Warlock-Chronos-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B0D9SW9D6L/ref=sr_1_1

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

 

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