by Terrance Mc Arthur
Details on how to enter to win a copy of Hidden at the end of this post along with a link to purchase the book where a portion goes to help support KRL.
Hidden is:
A. Something you haven’t found
B. Something you put away to keep safe
C. An Alex Verus novel by Benedict Jacka
D. All of the above
Yes, the answer is D.
Alex Verus is a divining mage. He sees through branching probabilities to figure out the future. It’s a very defensive magic, not good for attacking unless you can maneuver opponents into a position where something bad can happen to them, which Alex is very good at doing, which is why many people who tried to kill Alex are dead. His longtime friends are bothered by the body count in his wake, and lifemage Anne refuses to have anything to do with him. He starts to wonder if he is a bad guy, after all. When Anne is kidnapped (again?), Alex has to find out where she has been taken, who is behind it, and how to rescue her without being trapped. On top of that, his old master–a dark mage who scares other dark mages–is back, and Alex doesn’t want to be lured into resuming his old life.
Jacka knows how to build a series and a world…or worlds. This book has a pocket planet that holds a sinister castle, a gathering of dark mages that turns into the magical equivalent of a cafeteria food fight, a blink fox who can go where he wants (The door is locked? Blink, and you’re on the other side), Sharpie magic (People will believe anything they see written on a name tag, even “You Don’t See Me”), kidnappers who can’t seem to hold on to their captive, and the written equivalent of watching the six-fingered man running away from Inigo Montoya.
I wouldn’t call it a fast-paced book, but it builds its quiet way into some major action sequences with tension galore, even when Alex is wandering through a castle. This is the fifth book in the series, and some missing pages in the lives of Alex and Anne are finally filled in for the loyal readers. Now that Richard, the incredibly-dark mage who led Alex astray in his youth, is back in the picture, there is an extra layer of tension. Will Alex become the evil character everybody accuses him of being?
Maybe the next book will tell us.
To enter to win a copy of Hidden, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Hidden,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen September 27, 2014. U.S. residents only.
Check out more fantasy book reviews in our fantasy and fangs section.
Use this link to purchase this book & a portion goes to help support KRL:
We have a winner
Lorie Ham, KRL Publisher