Book Reviews

Book Blurb

An unregistered human con wizard and a duty-bound, straight-laced elf cop. As New York explodes with dangerous creatures, their passion goes nuclear.

After a terrible magical accident at Berkeley created unpredictable holes between realities, all manner of non-human creatures started popping into our world. These displacements, called Random Anomalous Reality Events or RARE, have taken magic out of fiction and relocated it firmly in reality, resulting in a great deal of chaos and confusion. Displaced elf Valerian works with AURA, the Agency of Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation, to intercept these beings as they appear in the human world, helping the peaceful ones and subduing the violent, malevolent ones. It’s good, satisfying work, and Val would be happy if he wasn’t so lonely.

Quinten is a young mage just trying to get by, but New York isn’t the easiest city to make a living in. If his methods are sometimes morally dubious, his heart is still in the right place. Of course, for Quinn, the right place means firmly locked away, protected at all costs. Living by his wits and sometimes magically induced luck, he works as a ‘freelance magic user’, or unregistered mage and small-time con, according to the authorities. The last thing Quinn wants is to draw the cops’ attention, but when an Event happens right on top of him, he’s forced to turn to AURA for help. Valerian isn’t at all what he’d expected in an AURA cop, and he certainly wasn’t expecting to join forces with the sexy elf, a snarky drow and a bitter incubus, when certain individuals in power try to stop the RARE by any means necessary.

Things are not all what they seem at AURA headquarters, and a greater evil lurks at the top than anyone could have imagined.

 

Book Review

What a fantastic world these authors have created. Apparently an accident happened at Berkley which merged magic and technology, and also created holes, so to speak, where other beings dropped through into our world. Suddenly the world is confronted with sphinxes, centaurs, elves, dryads, and numerous other brings who have no clue how they got there, or how to survive. Thus, the Agency of Unnatural Resettlement and Assimilation, or AURA, is created to help these beings acclimate, and deal with the violent ones who show up.

Valerian, Val, is an elf who one day drops through the sky into New York and experiences the fright and overall discombobulation that occurs with Random Anomalous Reality Events, RARE, or Events. Don't worry, the authors do not muddle it up with all kinds of technical stuff to confuse you. There's just enough to make it believable, and definitely hold my attention. Quinn is human, a mage, with some strong powers of his own, which he hides from AURA and instead runs con jobs to keep food on the table.

What made this book even more interesting is the complexity of the two main characters, plus the glimpses of a few secondary characters. And I don't mean complex in a bad or confusing way, but in a "draw me in for more and more revelations", way. Val was a battle prince in his homeland, and is now an investigator with AURA. So much of this world confuses him, and he always seems to say the wrong thing to people, especially men. When he first arrived he was placed with other elves, but, even there, he made many mistakes in his ego and arrogance. He's lonely and miserable, but putting the cool, haughty face on it. Quinn has looked after himself his entire life, and his mantra is "I can take care of myself". He doesn't need anyone or anything. But his life isn't exactly overflowing with happiness and contentment, and he hides some very horrible wounds from his childhood.

Now, there is A LOT I can't say about the mystery going on in this book, because I would reveal way too many spoilers. Suffice it to say, the humans in charge try to control the Events by eliminating all magic use, and as has been shown many times throughout history, their greed and dishonesty almost leads to the end of the world. What it also does, however, is bring Val and Quinn together, fighting for survival, and discovering how much they need each other. Val is shocked beyond belief to discover that Quinn, a human, is his very own bond-mate, someone Val believed he'd never find since he fell into this world. What will Quinn do when he finds out? Will he run, this human who professes no desire for any form of commitment?

I loved this book! It had everything I adore, from magic, to creatures out of myth and folklore, to a fascinating plot, and two socially awkward main characters who ignite when they're together. The secondary characters of Kai, a drow, his partner, Tenzin, a yeti, and Sinistrus, an incubus, simply made the entire story more interesting, along with a number of laughs. I am jumping straight into the next book because, basically, I can't wait to read more!

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Pride Publishing for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 217 pages/77241 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	06-March-2015
Price	$6.50 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.pride-publishing.com/book/quinns-gambit