Devon Monk successfully revisits the world and the characters she created in the Allie Beckstrom series. Hell Bent, and next spring Stone Cold,centers around Terric and Shamus the other two Soul Compliments from the Beckstrom books.
Starting three years after the end of Magic for a Price magic is now a mild shadow of itself except in the hands of the few Soul Compliments who can “break” magic and create spells as powerful as before the joining. And now the Authority has learned that a shadowy branch of the government has discovered this and is now coming for any of the four pairs of Soul Compliments in the U.S.
Even before this discovery Portland wasn’t exactly a peaceful paradise; murder by magic victims are showing up in parks and Terric’s new boyfriend is a member of a drug and blood cartel and has plans for Terric that don’t include either Shamus or happily ever after. Shamus finds himself in the gunsite of a mysterious woman who wants more from him than he might be willing to give. But Allie and Zayvion and Terric and Shamus refuse to hide and decide to stand their ground in their home city.
As they prepare for whatever the government might try an enemy from their pasts reappears and unites them all in a common but deadly goal.
It seems to be a common complaint that when an author writes a book that concentrates on secondary characters readers are left wondering what happened to the main characters from the previous series. Monk has answered that satisfactorily and also brings back other secondary characters in their previous roles. Readers won’t be left wondering whatever-happened-to and no one has changed radically into someone unrecognizable. This is one of the most enjoyable and logical books of this kind that I have read.
Hell Bent is the first part of a continuing story arc and while certain parts of the story are tied up in this book other parts are left open for Stone Cold.
Contains one of the best lines, ever, “I tried subtle. It chafed.”
Go buy a copy at your local indie bookstore or Barnes and Noble.
38 Caliber Reviews 