Review: Magic in the Shadows by Devon Monk

Description:

Magic is Allison Beckstrom's blessing and curse. As a Hound, she uses her gifts to track down practitioners who abuse their power and stop them from inflicting harm on unsuspecting innocents. Unfortunately, her spells have taken their toll on her, physically marking her and erasing her memories—including those of the man she supposedly loves.

But lost memories aren't the only things preying on Allie’s thoughts. Her late father, the prominent businessman—and sorcerer—Daniel Beckstrom, has somehow channeled himself into her very mind. With the help of The Authority, a secret organization of magic users, she hopes to gain better control over her own abilities—and find a way to deal with her father…

(Author’s website)

Review:
This is the third book in the Allie Beckstrom series and it’s the best so far. I started the book and after a few pages I had the urge to mark a page because it was of the most hilarious scenes I ever read. *Please take note that I don’t usually put post-its in my books.Sometimes I have 2-3 post-its tops in one but only in my all-time favorites.* Considering this fact please take a look at the picture of my copy---> yep, there are many post-its. To be exact, there are 10! So yes, I really enjoyed this one.

After the last book I was a bit afraid what kind of direction the story would take but all my worries were blown away. I was afraid that the relationship between Allie and Zayvion would suffer but luckily everything is fine in this book. *whew*

I loved the characters and I don’t mean only Allie and Zayvion. This book is full of wonderful new side characters which immediately stole my heart.

I totally adore Shamus aka Shame. He has his nickname for a reason but I’m luckily not easy ashamed of someone. *wink* He is Zayvion’s best friend and these two are the perfect opposite to each other. Loved the interactions of those two.

Quote:

Zayvion to Shamus: “Remind me why I keep you around?”

”My good looks, quick wit, and, best of all, my connections,” Shamus said.” Need I say more?”
“No,” Zayvion said. “You need say less. Much, much less.”

The second character is Stone and OMG is this one is cute. He’s a gargoyle and loves to bring chaos in Allie’s cupboards or her bathroom. This quote from Allie sums him up:

“Stone, the toilet whisperer.”

He is one of the loveliest characters ever written.

Sure I loved Allie too. She’s a real tough girl and has great priorities in life, Zayvion Jones and fresh Coffee. Nah, just kidding. Sure, she’s vulnerable but at the same times she so strong and willful that she just amazed me. She tries to do everything right but we all know that’s not as easy as it sounds. She doesn’t give up easily and tries to reach her goals on her own way despite all the voices, perhaps it’s just one, telling her what to do.

In this book we finally learn more about Mr. Mysterious- Zayvion Jones. We get to know his past and what his job as a closer really means. All this made me love him even more. He’s not always Mr. Zen and that’s kind of comforting that he loses his cool sometimes too.
This book made the impossible possible- I felt sorry for Allie’s dad. Yep, really I did and not only “Oh, the poor guy!”. I nearly cried for him. Ok, I admit nearly means I had ONE tear in my eyes but please don’t tell.

The overall plot in this book was gripping and took me by surprise at each turn the story made. At the end I guessed right about what will happen next but that didn’t make it any less good or bad in that case. That sounds confusing even in my ears. I mean bad for characters in book and good for my reading pleasure. Yep evil me!
I adore this book and can’t wait to get the next one, Magic in the Storm.

To learn more about Devon Monk and her books please visit her website here. The Allie Beckstrom Series:
1. Magic to the Bone: my review, reviews @goodreads, buy @amazon
1. Magic in the Blood: my review, reviews @goodreads, buy @amazon
1. Magic in the Shadows: reviews @goodreads, buy @amazon
1. Magic on the Storm (relese May 2010)

I bought this book on my own. The amazon links are affiliate links.