Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Collection
Publication
Penguin Publishing Group
Description
Everything has a cost. And every act of magic exacts a price from its user-maybe a two-day migraine, or losing the memory of your first kiss. But some people want to use magic without paying, and they Offload the cost onto innocents. When that happens, it falls to a Hound to identify the spell's caster-and Allison Beckstrom is the best there is.Daughter of a prominent Portland businessman, Allie would rather moonlight as a Hound than accept the family fortune-and the strings that come with it. But when she discovers a little boy dying from a magic Offload that has her father's signature all over it, Allie is thrown into the high-stakes world of corporate espionage and black magic.Now Allie's out for the truth-and she must call upon forces that will challenge everything she knows, change her in ways she could never imagine, and make her capable of things that powerful people will do anything to control.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Cauterize
Urban Fantasy. The premise is good and it was nice to read about the male love interest being very zen, very calm and very contained, rather than uber-macho Alpha males which happens a lot in romances.
The worldbuilding was interesting... in the future, everybody can use a little bit of magic.
In the end, I started skipping paragraphs to get to the end just to see how it ended because I wasn't invested in the main character - who is supposed to be a badass Hound - a person who tracks down illegal magic users - but she never seems to make any rational decisions, and she whines a lot. The book has so many plot holes and dis-joining scenes I could name 10 things right now off the top of my head which didn't make sense or should have been explained. Hopefully the author can clean up her plotting and characterizations in the next book in this series.
The worldbuilding was interesting... in the future, everybody can use a little bit of magic.
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However, it always comes with a price - physical pain for the user, depending on how much magic was used. This leads to sub-industries such as proxies, who take the pain for the magic-users for money. The morality for using magic was refreshing, which is why I gave it this rating at all.In the end, I started skipping paragraphs to get to the end just to see how it ended because I wasn't invested in the main character - who is supposed to be a badass Hound - a person who tracks down illegal magic users - but she never seems to make any rational decisions, and she whines a lot. The book has so many plot holes and dis-joining scenes I could name 10 things right now off the top of my head which didn't make sense or should have been explained. Hopefully the author can clean up her plotting and characterizations in the next book in this series.
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LibraryThing member Stewartry
It’s a unique setting: 21st century Earth, after the scientific discovery of magic. Magic can be collected like oil or electricity, and stored; when they use magic people don’t pull it from within, but from their surroundings, and every city now has cisterns of magic gathered from storms. And
Allie is called in by a … friend? called Mama to help the victim of just such an illegal move, Mama’s young son “Boy”. Why all her sons are called “Boy” I don’t know, but … whatever. They don’t seem to have other names. Allie’s what is called a Hound, which means she can – literally – sniff out details of a spell, like who cast it. And what she finds when she Hounds Boy is … her father. Who is a very rich, very powerful, very manipulative (ordinarily and magically) SOB, from whom she has been estranged for years.
Now, however, she goes to his office to confront him about the spell – about which he claims to know nothing … and the reader knows this is true because in brief third-person chapters it is revealed that someone very evil is using a very gifted, very damaged young man (Cody) to forge the spell “signatures” of others, including Allie’s father on this spell.
Then, the same day Allie goes to see her father for the first time in several years, he is murdered. And she is implicated. (Guess how.)
What follows is a high-energy action-packed story about how Allie investigates her father’s murder, the young man with the strange gifts (who somehow transforms her gifts, which results in some interesting physical markings), and whether or not she can trust Zayvion Jones, the handsome and sexy and seductive man her father had hired to keep tabs on her (my initial instinct was NO – but I could be wrong), dodging assassins and magical rebounds.
I never really warmed to Allie, or anyone else except Nora, Allie’s best friend; I never let myself trust Zayvion, right up to the end, since it seemed to me that Allie threw herself at him a little too quickly, thoroughly, and heedlessly. The writing wasn’t bad at all; it was very much like being in Allie’s head, listening to her ordinary speech patterns. Setting was well painted; I like the concepts the book was based on; while I didn’t enjoy the ending I appreciated the method of it. Not bad at all, and certainly very different from Kay without being a too-drastic comedown; I won’t rush out and buy the other books in the series, but I won’t pass them up if I come across them second-hand. I do still love the cover, and if I were slim and twenty-something might seriously consider a sleeve tattoo like that …
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every use of magic has an effect on the user, which you can if you try mitigate by setting up a Disbursement. The effects on Allie, the first-person protagonist of the book, range from headaches to severe head-to-toe bruising to a sore throat, etc… And, sometimes, when she’s really lucky, gaps in her memory, to the extent that she’s begun recording everything in a book she carries with her. The effects can also, illegally, be transferred to someone who had nothing to do with the spell, who doesn’t even have to be present.Allie is called in by a … friend? called Mama to help the victim of just such an illegal move, Mama’s young son “Boy”. Why all her sons are called “Boy” I don’t know, but … whatever. They don’t seem to have other names. Allie’s what is called a Hound, which means she can – literally – sniff out details of a spell, like who cast it. And what she finds when she Hounds Boy is … her father. Who is a very rich, very powerful, very manipulative (ordinarily and magically) SOB, from whom she has been estranged for years.
Now, however, she goes to his office to confront him about the spell – about which he claims to know nothing … and the reader knows this is true because in brief third-person chapters it is revealed that someone very evil is using a very gifted, very damaged young man (Cody) to forge the spell “signatures” of others, including Allie’s father on this spell.
Then, the same day Allie goes to see her father for the first time in several years, he is murdered. And she is implicated. (Guess how.)
What follows is a high-energy action-packed story about how Allie investigates her father’s murder, the young man with the strange gifts (who somehow transforms her gifts, which results in some interesting physical markings), and whether or not she can trust Zayvion Jones, the handsome and sexy and seductive man her father had hired to keep tabs on her (my initial instinct was NO – but I could be wrong), dodging assassins and magical rebounds.
I never really warmed to Allie, or anyone else except Nora, Allie’s best friend; I never let myself trust Zayvion, right up to the end, since it seemed to me that Allie threw herself at him a little too quickly, thoroughly, and heedlessly. The writing wasn’t bad at all; it was very much like being in Allie’s head, listening to her ordinary speech patterns. Setting was well painted; I like the concepts the book was based on; while I didn’t enjoy the ending I appreciated the method of it. Not bad at all, and certainly very different from Kay without being a too-drastic comedown; I won’t rush out and buy the other books in the series, but I won’t pass them up if I come across them second-hand. I do still love the cover, and if I were slim and twenty-something might seriously consider a sleeve tattoo like that …
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LibraryThing member BookWhisperer
My first introduction to Devon Monk's writing. I am very impressed. Allie Beckstrom is a very unique character. Monk has quite an imagination, and I throughly enjoyed this story. I admit I was struggling with some of the first half of this story, but once Monk had grown her momentum in the first
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half; the second was action packed and quite a good read. I look forward to reading 'Magic in the Blood'. If Monk continues with the same momentum, I look forward to an great story. Show Less
LibraryThing member librarycatnip
Liked this book very much, unique world building, decent explanations thereof. Excellent expression of female sexual agency, though the memory loss of those experiences smacks of punishment for that agency. That part I'm not cool with.
The magic seems to parallel technology in this series, which is
This book deals directly with the issues faced by a single female trying to make it on her own, specifically in a way that differs dramatically than that of her parents. When I broached my UF project with her, one of my profs asked me who I thought the target audience for the genre was. I think effectively: me. It targets "adult" women under the age of say, 40, who are negotiating a path through a world that really is kind of an old boys' club. Sound familiar? Women who are single, or at least unmarried negotiating love lives, dating, work, sexism, assault, and identity. I think the genre targets a generation that was raised just outside the idea that they would grow up, get married, have kids and be house wives. Some of us did think that and discovered it wasn't the case and that, while out of adolescence and so called young adulthood, we still don't have the damn world figured out and sure thought we should know what we are doing with our lives by now.
But these women start out the novels between 21 and 25 and it goes from there. Anita Blake is going on 30 now I think. UF deals with the idea that we may not live happily ever after, that we have to fight and live for ourselves, that we have to daily negotiate a world where monsters are real, whether that monstrosity takes the form of magic (metaphor), or the all too human monsters that we the readers are intimately acquainted with. I think these books target a disillusioned generation effecting and experiencing a changing world that can be at once exhilarating and frightening; some days we are on top of it, others it smacks us back. These books support the idea that with some luck and good decision making skills we might find a long term partner, and that in the mean time there is nothing wrong with an action packed roll in the sack. The degree to which the genre is sex positive varies, but it is there. That aspect, in and of itself, is a new and constructive thing.
The magic seems to parallel technology in this series, which is
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an interesting choice on the writer's part. It deeply resembles turn of the century Victorian fiction with it's deep seated fear and excitement about technology and the ways it can be used and abused. I like the dark and gritty feel of the books.This book deals directly with the issues faced by a single female trying to make it on her own, specifically in a way that differs dramatically than that of her parents. When I broached my UF project with her, one of my profs asked me who I thought the target audience for the genre was. I think effectively: me. It targets "adult" women under the age of say, 40, who are negotiating a path through a world that really is kind of an old boys' club. Sound familiar? Women who are single, or at least unmarried negotiating love lives, dating, work, sexism, assault, and identity. I think the genre targets a generation that was raised just outside the idea that they would grow up, get married, have kids and be house wives. Some of us did think that and discovered it wasn't the case and that, while out of adolescence and so called young adulthood, we still don't have the damn world figured out and sure thought we should know what we are doing with our lives by now.
But these women start out the novels between 21 and 25 and it goes from there. Anita Blake is going on 30 now I think. UF deals with the idea that we may not live happily ever after, that we have to fight and live for ourselves, that we have to daily negotiate a world where monsters are real, whether that monstrosity takes the form of magic (metaphor), or the all too human monsters that we the readers are intimately acquainted with. I think these books target a disillusioned generation effecting and experiencing a changing world that can be at once exhilarating and frightening; some days we are on top of it, others it smacks us back. These books support the idea that with some luck and good decision making skills we might find a long term partner, and that in the mean time there is nothing wrong with an action packed roll in the sack. The degree to which the genre is sex positive varies, but it is there. That aspect, in and of itself, is a new and constructive thing.
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LibraryThing member alesi1
I came across this Series in the library and picked it up. I was not disappointed. I got so interested in this book that I've been reading it at super speed since it is really easy to read and really effortless to follow all of her characters.
This is a story about magic casting, where you need
Allie’s world gives a 360° turn on the day of her birthday when she receives a call from a regular client asking her to hound magic for her.
Devon Monk does a great job in introducing this new world to us and through out her series gives us more background information. The reader’s learn more about this world in the same pace Allie does.
FYI: I started writing this review for first book only on 9/8/10 and am now on book four of this series on 9/13/10 trying to write the review with out any spoilers. Hard work! I’ve just added Devon Monk as one of my favorite authors cause’ I L-O-V-E this series.
This is a story about magic casting, where you need
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glyphs and natural magic. The heroin of the book is named Allison (Allie) and right from the start she is projected as rebellious, strong and independent. She is the daughter of a very powerful and rich man that as per Allie’s standards is not 100% good. She has been independent and has not talked to her father in over 7 years. She is a Hound which is jus like a hound dog where she tracks spell casters in crime scenes and helps investigators identify what kind of magic was used and even the user. Allie’s world gives a 360° turn on the day of her birthday when she receives a call from a regular client asking her to hound magic for her.
Devon Monk does a great job in introducing this new world to us and through out her series gives us more background information. The reader’s learn more about this world in the same pace Allie does.
FYI: I started writing this review for first book only on 9/8/10 and am now on book four of this series on 9/13/10 trying to write the review with out any spoilers. Hard work! I’ve just added Devon Monk as one of my favorite authors cause’ I L-O-V-E this series.
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LibraryThing member spunnsugarz
Everything has a price. Using magic is no exception; when you use it, it uses you back. It could be a migraine for a few days, or a week long flu, or it could take away your memories. Allie Beckstrom keeps a little black book to journal her memories because you never know what your going to lose
Allie Beckstrom is a Hound. Many magic users offload the magic onto innocents so they don't have to pay the price. Allie identifies the spell caster of those that offload magic onto innocents so they can be held accountable. The pay stinks, but she enjoys her job. Her only other alternative is to work for her father, a very wealthy businessman, and she has no desire to. She hasn't seen him in seven years, but when she identifies her father's magic signature on a young boy dying from an offload, she goes to see him in a rage.
Zayvion Jones works for Allie's father. He follows Allie around, unbeknownst to her, then reports back. The day that Allie confronts her father with her findings, Zayvion follows her. Unfortunately, Allie's father is killed moments after they leave and Allie's signature is on the kill. She is now being hunted by the police. Zayvion is a Grounder, and his very touch soothes the magic in Allie.
Zayvion and Allie become close as they try and unravel who killed Allie's father and is trying to frame her. There investigations lead them to a young man named Cody the Hand, and his magic coupled with Allie's unleashes a fiery magical pool within Allie. Strange, but beautiful, psychedelic markings appear on Allie from her temple to her fingertips. Unsure of her new power and her feelings for Zayvion, Allie is bewildered when events spiral into Zayvion's betrayal.
MAGIC TO THE BONE is a thrilling, magical ride that will leave you breathless for more. Toss in a bit of romance with gritty characters, a magical world and a mysterious plot and you have a superb adventure. Devon Monk is original and exciting and I can't wait for more!
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when the magic stops.Allie Beckstrom is a Hound. Many magic users offload the magic onto innocents so they don't have to pay the price. Allie identifies the spell caster of those that offload magic onto innocents so they can be held accountable. The pay stinks, but she enjoys her job. Her only other alternative is to work for her father, a very wealthy businessman, and she has no desire to. She hasn't seen him in seven years, but when she identifies her father's magic signature on a young boy dying from an offload, she goes to see him in a rage.
Zayvion Jones works for Allie's father. He follows Allie around, unbeknownst to her, then reports back. The day that Allie confronts her father with her findings, Zayvion follows her. Unfortunately, Allie's father is killed moments after they leave and Allie's signature is on the kill. She is now being hunted by the police. Zayvion is a Grounder, and his very touch soothes the magic in Allie.
Zayvion and Allie become close as they try and unravel who killed Allie's father and is trying to frame her. There investigations lead them to a young man named Cody the Hand, and his magic coupled with Allie's unleashes a fiery magical pool within Allie. Strange, but beautiful, psychedelic markings appear on Allie from her temple to her fingertips. Unsure of her new power and her feelings for Zayvion, Allie is bewildered when events spiral into Zayvion's betrayal.
MAGIC TO THE BONE is a thrilling, magical ride that will leave you breathless for more. Toss in a bit of romance with gritty characters, a magical world and a mysterious plot and you have a superb adventure. Devon Monk is original and exciting and I can't wait for more!
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LibraryThing member jjmachshev
New (to me) author Devon Monk has imagined a world where magic exists--but extracts a serious price from its users. The more magic you use, the bigger the price in pain, blood, or loss...unless you're rich enough, or ruthless enough, to transfer that price to someone else.
Allie knows all about
A mysterious hunky man, lost memories, magical sex (although maybe not quite enough of it!), murder, a cute kitten, industrial espionage...this story has it all. The action is fast paced, the plot is well spun, and the romance vs. suspense quotient was just right for me. Monk has written a strong, yet emotionally vulnerable heroine with a drive for justice that often works against her best instincts. If I didn't know there was a second book coming, I would have found the author's website and hounded her for one! There's a lot of potential in her world and her characters and I'm hungry for more.
I loved the idea of a physical cost to magic and how that could play out in today's world. Devon Monk had me hooked from page three and I just couldn't stop reading 'til the end of this book. Now I'm tapping my toes waiting for "Magic in the Blood" to be released in May 2009 and hoping the story picks up right where this one left off!
Allie knows all about
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magic's price. At least she would, if she could only remember. After all, her father and his wealthy corporation have their fingers in all the magic 'pies' in the world. And she was all set to follow in those footsteps and join the family business--until she worked herself free of her father's 'Influence magic'. Since then she's made her own life, and spends a lot of it tracking down those who misuse magic and turning them in to the authorities. So when her latest job reveals her father's magic 'signature', she tries not to be surprised. But all of a sudden, weird things start to happen, her father's dead, she's the number one suspect, and there's an incredibly handsome yet strange man who always seems to be around when things go badly. And did I forget to mention the almost dead man and his kitten? A mysterious hunky man, lost memories, magical sex (although maybe not quite enough of it!), murder, a cute kitten, industrial espionage...this story has it all. The action is fast paced, the plot is well spun, and the romance vs. suspense quotient was just right for me. Monk has written a strong, yet emotionally vulnerable heroine with a drive for justice that often works against her best instincts. If I didn't know there was a second book coming, I would have found the author's website and hounded her for one! There's a lot of potential in her world and her characters and I'm hungry for more.
I loved the idea of a physical cost to magic and how that could play out in today's world. Devon Monk had me hooked from page three and I just couldn't stop reading 'til the end of this book. Now I'm tapping my toes waiting for "Magic in the Blood" to be released in May 2009 and hoping the story picks up right where this one left off!
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LibraryThing member Mardel
Magic to the Bone by Devon Monk is set in Oregon in an alternate world, where magic has recently been discovered. The general populace actually believes that magic has in fact only recently developed or appeared. In this setting, using magic costs the user a price in body pain or memory loss. Miss
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Monk has developed a world where corporations are making money with magic and all the byproducts of magic use. "Offloading" where users don't have to pay a personal price , storage of magic, rights to magic, blackmarket magic uses, etc. Devon Monk has brought up a lot of interesting concepts. The book has suspense, murder, romance (nothing too sappy though - tired of sappy romance, probably a symptom of my encroaching aging), twists and turns. The heroine (Allie Beckstrom) doesn't have it easy, suffers from memory loss when she's not careful with her magic offloads, and doesn't have a special happily ever after. I really enjoyed this book a lot. I was interested from the first page to the last. Show Less
LibraryThing member mmillet
With the recent discovery that magic actually does exist technology has advanced so that it’s available to everyone for whatever – green lawn, less wrinkles - presto it’s done. But magic isn’t all pixie dust and faeries, oh no, it’s available to everyone but it comes with a price: each
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time inflicting bruises, sore throats or even headaches depending on how much magic you used. Consequently, there are lots of folks taking advantage of the system (and others around them) by offloading their magical kickback onto unsuspecting victims. Allison Beckstrom is a Hound, someone who uses magic to track down magical offenders and turns them over to the law to make sure they pay for their crimes. Only Allie gets an additional bonus every time she uses magic – she not only gets the nasty side effects but she also looses portions of her memory. When Allie discovers her estranged father has offloaded his magic onto a little boy (illegally of course) who is now on the brink of death she gets fightin’ mad and wants to see justice done. But her father swears he didn’t do it and Allie doesn’t exactly believe him. So naturally when her father winds up murdered everyone is pointing the finger at her and Allie can’t seem to remember if she did or didn’t do it. Her only option is to trust the shady Zayvion Jones who has some very interesting talents himself to help her discover who is the real murderer and get her off the hook. Good, solid read with an interesting twist on the general conception of magic as a whole. I’m looking forward to see where Allie goes next (and can I just say I hope it’s with Zay?).I’d like to give a special thank you to the cover artist on this one. Usually, UF covers sort of turn me off and tend to not look anything at all like the characters. To tell you the truth I was not terribly excited about this one either – tattooed girl shown from behind – can we get any more unoriginal? But after reading it, this cover gets it right, I mean, *gasp* the artist might have actually read the book or at least listened to someone who knew the characters. I mean she’s Allie: funky tattoos (sort of), black tank top and short hair. So thank you, thank you for giving me a cover that doesn’t make me want to tear the cover off every time I look at it. Show Less
LibraryThing member MarFisk
Devon Monk has been recommended to me by friends, and even by Amazon based on some purchases I made, but I have an extensive to-be-read pile. Though I picked up a copy some time ago, I hadn’t gotten to it yet. Then, a friend was visiting and looked at the pile. She picked out Magic to the Bone as
Now I know why.
This novel plays with all the traditions of strong narrative. The main character is beaten about left and right, never really understanding what’s going on but just struggling to stay on her feet long enough to figure it out. If I had to characterize the action, I’d say it’s mostly “done to” rather than “done by” her. That said, the way Allie responds to things, her own personal code mixed with a heavy dose of distrust that, despite everything, is stirred with loyalty even in the face of strong evidence to the contrary makes for a strong novel that pulled me in and kept me reading through to the end.
I started this novel just as a nasty cold was claiming the space I call my own. My focus on everything else went flying out the window, but I found whenever I started reading this book, I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to put it down to struggle for an inch of progress on all the other things that I needed to do. I think that says more for the novel than most reactions just because it created focus out of thin air when I had none.
The story begins with a loner who has abandoned her father, with good cause, and sets herself apart from almost everything. At the same time, she’s at the beck and call of people who she considers downtrodden but good at heart, often providing her services for free when she can’t even make her rent. As the story develops, we learn not only can she manipulate magic, though that always comes with a price in both pain and lost memories, but that she has a somewhat unique ability everyone has assured her is impossible–she carries her own supply of magic.
This book is an eye-opener for Allie, knowledge which, like magic, comes with its own price, but at the same time she’s not left hanging out in darkness as she gains much in her quest to uncover the truth.
Devon Monk slips sideways on the first person narrative tradition for urban fantasy by bringing in a second, 3rd person, narrator so that the reader knows a smidge more than Allie, but that smidge isn’t enough to spoil the unfolding mystery. Rather, it adds to the picture.
Her other odd choice is the main character’s memory loss as a penalty. It certainly creates trouble for Allie, but I have to wonder if it won’t have even more significance in the books to come.
Anyway, I’m trying to avoid spoilers, but I can tell you it’s much like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in that the story careens along its path, dragging you with it at a terrifying rate with glimpses here and there to build a tale. I never felt left behind. I never sat back and wondered if there was a greater story. I was right in the muck with Allie trying to figure things out, and it was a happy place to be.
My list of “always buy” authors has increased by one, and I predict that my to-be-read pile is going to swell up a bit the next time I’m at the book store.
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the “must read next.”Now I know why.
This novel plays with all the traditions of strong narrative. The main character is beaten about left and right, never really understanding what’s going on but just struggling to stay on her feet long enough to figure it out. If I had to characterize the action, I’d say it’s mostly “done to” rather than “done by” her. That said, the way Allie responds to things, her own personal code mixed with a heavy dose of distrust that, despite everything, is stirred with loyalty even in the face of strong evidence to the contrary makes for a strong novel that pulled me in and kept me reading through to the end.
I started this novel just as a nasty cold was claiming the space I call my own. My focus on everything else went flying out the window, but I found whenever I started reading this book, I didn’t want to stop. I didn’t want to put it down to struggle for an inch of progress on all the other things that I needed to do. I think that says more for the novel than most reactions just because it created focus out of thin air when I had none.
The story begins with a loner who has abandoned her father, with good cause, and sets herself apart from almost everything. At the same time, she’s at the beck and call of people who she considers downtrodden but good at heart, often providing her services for free when she can’t even make her rent. As the story develops, we learn not only can she manipulate magic, though that always comes with a price in both pain and lost memories, but that she has a somewhat unique ability everyone has assured her is impossible–she carries her own supply of magic.
This book is an eye-opener for Allie, knowledge which, like magic, comes with its own price, but at the same time she’s not left hanging out in darkness as she gains much in her quest to uncover the truth.
Devon Monk slips sideways on the first person narrative tradition for urban fantasy by bringing in a second, 3rd person, narrator so that the reader knows a smidge more than Allie, but that smidge isn’t enough to spoil the unfolding mystery. Rather, it adds to the picture.
Her other odd choice is the main character’s memory loss as a penalty. It certainly creates trouble for Allie, but I have to wonder if it won’t have even more significance in the books to come.
Anyway, I’m trying to avoid spoilers, but I can tell you it’s much like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride in that the story careens along its path, dragging you with it at a terrifying rate with glimpses here and there to build a tale. I never felt left behind. I never sat back and wondered if there was a greater story. I was right in the muck with Allie trying to figure things out, and it was a happy place to be.
My list of “always buy” authors has increased by one, and I predict that my to-be-read pile is going to swell up a bit the next time I’m at the book store.
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LibraryThing member lindach
This was recommended by members of my paranormal romance book club as a great read and it didn't disappoint.
This is a great urban fantasy genre novel set in a world 30 years after the discovery of magic.Magic has replaced traditional technology however there are restrictions on its use and who can
This is a great urban fantasy genre novel set in a world 30 years after the discovery of magic.Magic has replaced traditional technology however there are restrictions on its use and who can
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use it.Allie Beckstrom is a Hound who can trace who has been using magic illegally and she gets caught up in a conspiracy.She is a feisty and interesting character and the narrative is faced paced with plenty of action and mystery to keep you enthralled.I look forward to reading more books in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member TheBooknerd
Great book -- the story developed quickly and never slowed. Devon Monk uses an interesting concept -- the price of magic -- as the premise of her book, but also manages to fill the story with a host of other issues: a daughter's struggle with a distant father; society's lust for instant, cost-free
The characters are great fun, as well. Allie Beckstrom is a wonderful protagonist; she's strong and likable, but she isn't perfect. There's just enough room there for her to grow into a more intriguing character as the series progresses. And Zayvion Jones is the perfect complement -- a successful Tall, Dark, and Mysterious. If you're tired of authors striving for cryptic and enigmatic, only to end up with vague and irritating, Zayvion will be a refreshing change.
I will definitely continue reading the rest of this series.
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gratification; learning to love and trust when it seems unwise. I found this book both entertaining an intelligent. The characters are great fun, as well. Allie Beckstrom is a wonderful protagonist; she's strong and likable, but she isn't perfect. There's just enough room there for her to grow into a more intriguing character as the series progresses. And Zayvion Jones is the perfect complement -- a successful Tall, Dark, and Mysterious. If you're tired of authors striving for cryptic and enigmatic, only to end up with vague and irritating, Zayvion will be a refreshing change.
I will definitely continue reading the rest of this series.
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LibraryThing member EowynA
Picked this up yesterday at the used book store. Our heroine is a Hound, who sniffs out magic, back to the one who did it. She lives in a modern, urban world where magic exists, and is distributed through the cities much like electricity is in our modern, urban world. But in her world, using magic
She is called to the "bad part of town" to use her Hound senses to search out who offloaded a sh*tload of magic onto a 5-year-old boy, nearly killing him. The signature of that offloading leads her to her father, who was instrumental in making magic commercially viable. On the way, she discovers she's being followed by an intriguing, somewhat mysterious man named Zayvion Jones. They join forces to figure out what is really going on.
This was a page-turner. I found myself pulled along, even though I was sleepy. There are a few bedroom scenes, but they felt a bit "added on," as if they had been included because the modern paranormal first-person urban fantasy genre seems to demand it. The action seemed somehow a bit muddled, like the heroine, but it does tie up the loose ends by the end of the book. And then unravels some, to provide a leadin to the next book. I enjoyed this one, but not sure I will pick up the next one in the series (and I am sure there will be a next one).
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means paying a price - pain commensurate with the usage, and sometime holes in the memory, too. But it is possible to redirect, or offload, that priceShe is called to the "bad part of town" to use her Hound senses to search out who offloaded a sh*tload of magic onto a 5-year-old boy, nearly killing him. The signature of that offloading leads her to her father, who was instrumental in making magic commercially viable. On the way, she discovers she's being followed by an intriguing, somewhat mysterious man named Zayvion Jones. They join forces to figure out what is really going on.
This was a page-turner. I found myself pulled along, even though I was sleepy. There are a few bedroom scenes, but they felt a bit "added on," as if they had been included because the modern paranormal first-person urban fantasy genre seems to demand it. The action seemed somehow a bit muddled, like the heroine, but it does tie up the loose ends by the end of the book. And then unravels some, to provide a leadin to the next book. I enjoyed this one, but not sure I will pick up the next one in the series (and I am sure there will be a next one).
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LibraryThing member Squeex
Holey schmokes!!! I mowed through this book rather quickly for many reasons: to make one more book for my book journal this month, to get one more review in for the mini-challenge over at Literary Escapism/League of Reluctant Adults...but, most of all, I couldn't seem to stop reading this superb
This is why I love reading the urban fantasy genre, it's dark, action packed, putting the main character into situations they'd rather not be in, but take care of anyway because it's how they are wired. They keep going in the positive aiding direction even after the point of exhaustion, after getting injured...they just keep going. Makes me wish I could be that heroic/stoic, but I'm not so I read about the character who are that way.
That's Allie through the book, aiding those weaker than she and in need of help. She gets assistance from the mysterious Zayvion, the Savant Cody, and her best friend Nola who lives in the magic-free countryside. Mostly, though, Allie stands on her own two feet and gets what needs doing accomplished. She learns along the way, even with losing some of her memories of her past through the use of magic. Using magic has its consequences. And Allie knows it only too well.
The atmosphere of the genre seems best set in the Pacific Northwest, rain seems the prevailing weather adding to the dark mystery. Cold, drizzly, always there rain....
I cannot wait to get and read the rest of this series. This one is going on the keeper shelf, it's a fab book that I will revisit and my good book buddy, Jenna, got it for me and had Devon Monk sign it. I don't keep many books, but this one is definitely one of the few that stays in Casa IYamVixen.
Five rain adds to the magic diamonds.....
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book! I obviously had to stop to sleep or go to work, dagnabbit (how else does one support a bookholic habit?), but I wished I could have stayed home to continue reading. Some points, I had to sleep from the feeling of exhaustion in response of all that Allie went through on hour-to-hour, minute-to-minute basis. This is why I love reading the urban fantasy genre, it's dark, action packed, putting the main character into situations they'd rather not be in, but take care of anyway because it's how they are wired. They keep going in the positive aiding direction even after the point of exhaustion, after getting injured...they just keep going. Makes me wish I could be that heroic/stoic, but I'm not so I read about the character who are that way.
That's Allie through the book, aiding those weaker than she and in need of help. She gets assistance from the mysterious Zayvion, the Savant Cody, and her best friend Nola who lives in the magic-free countryside. Mostly, though, Allie stands on her own two feet and gets what needs doing accomplished. She learns along the way, even with losing some of her memories of her past through the use of magic. Using magic has its consequences. And Allie knows it only too well.
The atmosphere of the genre seems best set in the Pacific Northwest, rain seems the prevailing weather adding to the dark mystery. Cold, drizzly, always there rain....
I cannot wait to get and read the rest of this series. This one is going on the keeper shelf, it's a fab book that I will revisit and my good book buddy, Jenna, got it for me and had Devon Monk sign it. I don't keep many books, but this one is definitely one of the few that stays in Casa IYamVixen.
Five rain adds to the magic diamonds.....
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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba
In this urban fantasy/Romance novel, we find Allie, a Hound, living alone in the bad part of Portland. She lives in a world where magic was just recently discovered, and can be channeled like electricity or water. Magic can be easily used, but at a price - it causes pain unless a person "Offloads"
Its well written, solid characters. Where I felt this book was lacking was the world - it is complex enough, but it felt a bit off kilter, like something was missing. I think it is the way the rules of magic changed so quickly. The novel also didn't feel complete - there was a resolution, but a bit more explanation of how the secret society, would have a gone a long from making this from a good book, to a great book.
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it to someone else, willing or unwilling. A hound is someone who tracks magic use back to the originator and Allie is a good at her job, but her pain is that sometimes takes away Memory.Its well written, solid characters. Where I felt this book was lacking was the world - it is complex enough, but it felt a bit off kilter, like something was missing. I think it is the way the rules of magic changed so quickly. The novel also didn't feel complete - there was a resolution, but a bit more explanation of how the secret society, would have a gone a long from making this from a good book, to a great book.
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LibraryThing member liddlshortydemon
Allie Beckstrom is a hound, someone who traces magic back to the caster. In her world magic is readily available to those who wish to pay the price. Allie has to pay twice the price when she uses magic as it steals parts of her memory. She carries a book with her at all times to jot down notes of
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her experiences so that when she loses the memories, she doesn't truly forget. Allie spends her time hunting those who offload their spell costs onto the innocent. When a friend's little boy ends up very ill from a spell offload things get a little crazy. Allie tracks the source back to her estranged billionaire father, and in the process meets the mysterious Zayvion. There is an instant attraction, but can she really trust him?Allie is very strong willed, but she isn't overly physically powerful as many paranormal heroines are. As far as strength goes, shes just an ordinary person. Also magic and powers in her world do not come without a price. I find both of these things to be very refreshing. Most novels have their heroines seem to have endless powers, and not that ruins a book, but sometimes it is nice to have more consequences of power in a novel. One thing I did not care for was the excessive memory loss. Allie forgets almost every important thing that happens to her and whenever she doesn't remember to jot them down in her book she truly loses those memories forever. Based on how things ended in this book, it seems as if Allie will be "starting all over again," and I find that to be a little frustrating. I hope in future novels Allie learns how to stop the memory loss. All in all however, it was very good book and I am very interested to see where the series goes. Show Less
LibraryThing member omnia_mutantur
Odd book. Some very interesting premises, but a sort of dippy main character and an even dippier bit about True Love.
LibraryThing member ShelleyJax
This is a new author to me. Allie Beckstrom is a Hound; a person who tracks back magic to the person who abuses it. When it leads back to her father, a person she hasn't seen in 7 years, her life gets changed forever. In steps the mysterious Zavyion Jones, who has a few secrets of his own; some we
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don't learn about in this novel. Too much magic has a negative impact on Allie; she loses memories and has to carry a little black book with her name and other important contact information. **This was an interesting book for me. I've read other Magical users (IE the Ilona Andrews series), but this one had way too much Allie acting like a love struck teenager. I guess others will like this Urban Fantasy novel; I can only hope that #2 is alot better. Personally, I could have done without almost 100 pages of pensive sexual feelings between Allie and Zay. But, again, that's just me. Show Less
LibraryThing member joyfiction
A fun foray into the paranormal. Thoroughly enjoyable. A definite fun read.
LibraryThing member MlleEhreen
This is a spoiler free review of the first FIVE books in the Allie Beckstrom series.
So there are two things to know about Allie Beckstrom: the first is that she's a Hound, someone who makes a living tracing magical residues back to their source. The second thing to know is that she's the only child
The series takes place in a world where magic has been discovered and commercialized in recent history. In fact, it's Allie's father - yep, daddy's already back in the conversation - who developed the technology to store and harness magic. Magic use has become very common, integrated into most aspects of everyday life, but it carries a "price in pain." Physical pain. The caster can direct the pain to arrive at a certain time, in a certain way, but there's no avoiding it.
This "price in pain" defines the Hounds - because they use magic all the time, they're always hurting. They turn to coping mechanisms like drugs or alcohol. They burn out fast. Allie's avoided that fate so far, but it's pretty clear that she's gravitated to Hounding not just because she has a talent but because she wants to get as far away from her father, and her father's plans for her life, as possible. So, you know, daddy issues again.
In MAGIC TO THE BONE, Allie's dad is murdered and Allie is the prime suspect. Everyone who examines daddy's body says she cast the spell that killed him. She didn't. We also find out, because we get occasional scenes from his point of view, that a mentally broken young man named Cody forged Allie's magical signature on the killing spell. When I read MAGIC TO THE BONE I was kind of annoyed by Cody. He seemed like a throwaway character and I didn't want to read from his point of view. To my surprise, Cody turns out to be really important to the series as a whole. He reappears in each book, and we get a little more backstory about him every time he shows up.
This Cody issue showcases one of the best and worst qualities of the series. The plot conflicts that Devon Monk starts brewing in MAGIC TO THE BONE carry through to every book I've read. She builds and builds and builds from the same elements. The overarching plot is the only plot, and the whole series feels a lot like one really long novel to me. On the downside, that means that a lot of problems that carry from one book to another also seem to DRAG from one book to another, long after they should have been solved.
Two highlights of the series...I find Allie's narration super funny, and her love interest, Zayvion Jones, super sexy. Allie is full of quips ("I was so thirsty I could drain a river dry and still have room for a few creeks and springs"). Her humor is often wry and understated and just works for me. As for Zayvion? He's unique in the urban fantasy pantheon. Allie always talks about his "Zen" demeanor and he is indeed a very calm, cool guy. He's also got a sense of humor and he and Allie have great banter, which is wonderful. But Zayvion manages to be relaxed and still very much an alpha, still fierce and downright scary when he wants to be. It's a nice change, and it means that he's equally sexy on the battlefield, in the bedroom, and just hanging out around the kitchen table.
On the whole I recommend the Allie Beckstrom books, although the series doesn't break into my circle of favorites.
So there are two things to know about Allie Beckstrom: the first is that she's a Hound, someone who makes a living tracing magical residues back to their source. The second thing to know is that she's the only child
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of Daniel Beckstrom, a fabulously wealthy innovator and tycoon. You might think that her profession, Hounding, is the more important fact - but there are books in the series where she only Hounds once or twice. Her daddy issues, on the other hand...they refuse to go away. The series takes place in a world where magic has been discovered and commercialized in recent history. In fact, it's Allie's father - yep, daddy's already back in the conversation - who developed the technology to store and harness magic. Magic use has become very common, integrated into most aspects of everyday life, but it carries a "price in pain." Physical pain. The caster can direct the pain to arrive at a certain time, in a certain way, but there's no avoiding it.
This "price in pain" defines the Hounds - because they use magic all the time, they're always hurting. They turn to coping mechanisms like drugs or alcohol. They burn out fast. Allie's avoided that fate so far, but it's pretty clear that she's gravitated to Hounding not just because she has a talent but because she wants to get as far away from her father, and her father's plans for her life, as possible. So, you know, daddy issues again.
In MAGIC TO THE BONE, Allie's dad is murdered and Allie is the prime suspect. Everyone who examines daddy's body says she cast the spell that killed him. She didn't. We also find out, because we get occasional scenes from his point of view, that a mentally broken young man named Cody forged Allie's magical signature on the killing spell. When I read MAGIC TO THE BONE I was kind of annoyed by Cody. He seemed like a throwaway character and I didn't want to read from his point of view. To my surprise, Cody turns out to be really important to the series as a whole. He reappears in each book, and we get a little more backstory about him every time he shows up.
This Cody issue showcases one of the best and worst qualities of the series. The plot conflicts that Devon Monk starts brewing in MAGIC TO THE BONE carry through to every book I've read. She builds and builds and builds from the same elements. The overarching plot is the only plot, and the whole series feels a lot like one really long novel to me. On the downside, that means that a lot of problems that carry from one book to another also seem to DRAG from one book to another, long after they should have been solved.
Two highlights of the series...I find Allie's narration super funny, and her love interest, Zayvion Jones, super sexy. Allie is full of quips ("I was so thirsty I could drain a river dry and still have room for a few creeks and springs"). Her humor is often wry and understated and just works for me. As for Zayvion? He's unique in the urban fantasy pantheon. Allie always talks about his "Zen" demeanor and he is indeed a very calm, cool guy. He's also got a sense of humor and he and Allie have great banter, which is wonderful. But Zayvion manages to be relaxed and still very much an alpha, still fierce and downright scary when he wants to be. It's a nice change, and it means that he's equally sexy on the battlefield, in the bedroom, and just hanging out around the kitchen table.
On the whole I recommend the Allie Beckstrom books, although the series doesn't break into my circle of favorites.
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LibraryThing member pjh1984
I know I read this but I can't remember a thing about it.
LibraryThing member ijpanko
Really great series!!! Reminds me of the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews. I love it! Even better its a finished series so you can read all nine in the series and be done! I hate waiting! Author has a different twist on magic I havent seen before and Allie Beckstrom does get her ass kicked a
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lot. Its great to see a character still willing to defy the odds. Show Less
LibraryThing member raselyem7
Liked this book very much, unique world building, decent explanations thereof. Excellent expression of female sexual agency, though the memory loss of those experiences smacks of punishment for that agency. That part I'm not cool with.
The magic seems to parallel technology in this series, which is
This book deals directly with the issues faced by a single female trying to make it on her own, specifically in a way that differs dramatically than that of her parents. When I broached my UF project with her, one of my profs asked me who I thought the target audience for the genre was. I think effectively: me. It targets "adult" women under the age of say, 40, who are negotiating a path through a world that really is kind of an old boys' club. Sound familiar? Women who are single, or at least unmarried negotiating love lives, dating, work, sexism, assault, and identity. I think the genre targets a generation that was raised just outside the idea that they would grow up, get married, have kids and be house wives. Some of us did think that and discovered it wasn't the case and that, while out of adolescence and so called young adulthood, we still don't have the damn world figured out and sure thought we should know what we are doing with our lives by now.
But these women start out the novels between 21 and 25 and it goes from there. Anita Blake is going on 30 now I think. UF deals with the idea that we may not live happily ever after, that we have to fight and live for ourselves, that we have to daily negotiate a world where monsters are real, whether that monstrosity takes the form of magic (metaphor), or the all too human monsters that we the readers are intimately acquainted with. I think these books target a disillusioned generation effecting and experiencing a changing world that can be at once exhilarating and frightening; some days we are on top of it, others it smacks us back. These books support the idea that with some luck and good decision making skills we might find a long term partner, and that in the mean time there is nothing wrong with an action packed roll in the sack. The degree to which the genre is sex positive varies, but it is there. That aspect, in and of itself, is a new and constructive thing.
The magic seems to parallel technology in this series, which is
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an interesting choice on the writer's part. It deeply resembles turn of the century Victorian fiction with it's deep seated fear and excitement about technology and the ways it can be used and abused. I like the dark and gritty feel of the books.This book deals directly with the issues faced by a single female trying to make it on her own, specifically in a way that differs dramatically than that of her parents. When I broached my UF project with her, one of my profs asked me who I thought the target audience for the genre was. I think effectively: me. It targets "adult" women under the age of say, 40, who are negotiating a path through a world that really is kind of an old boys' club. Sound familiar? Women who are single, or at least unmarried negotiating love lives, dating, work, sexism, assault, and identity. I think the genre targets a generation that was raised just outside the idea that they would grow up, get married, have kids and be house wives. Some of us did think that and discovered it wasn't the case and that, while out of adolescence and so called young adulthood, we still don't have the damn world figured out and sure thought we should know what we are doing with our lives by now.
But these women start out the novels between 21 and 25 and it goes from there. Anita Blake is going on 30 now I think. UF deals with the idea that we may not live happily ever after, that we have to fight and live for ourselves, that we have to daily negotiate a world where monsters are real, whether that monstrosity takes the form of magic (metaphor), or the all too human monsters that we the readers are intimately acquainted with. I think these books target a disillusioned generation effecting and experiencing a changing world that can be at once exhilarating and frightening; some days we are on top of it, others it smacks us back. These books support the idea that with some luck and good decision making skills we might find a long term partner, and that in the mean time there is nothing wrong with an action packed roll in the sack. The degree to which the genre is sex positive varies, but it is there. That aspect, in and of itself, is a new and constructive thing.
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LibraryThing member msphotogirl
I did enjoy this urban fantasy. Allie is the main character in a world of magic and non-magic users. I liked the potential love story/interest, Zay, however there is almost too much mystery behind him.
LibraryThing member emblue
Wasn't sure I was going to like it at first, but it got better and better as I kept reading. Really enjoyed it, and look forward to the next Allie Beckstrom book. Glad I got the library to buy this one. :) Oh wow -- just saw there are at least SEVEN more waiting to be read! Nice!
Original publication date
2008-10-16
Local notes
Allie Beckstrom, 1
DDC/MDS
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