Magic Bites introduces us to Kate Daniels, a mercenary who’s working in an Atlanta that is in flux – in this world sometimes technology is in charge, but during others magic holds sway. To cope with this, Atlanta has a number of agencies to tackle the supernatural as well as criminal threats. Kate works for none of these, preferring to go it alone, but when her mentor and father-figure (who’s no pushover himself when it comes to monsters) is murdered and both the People (undead) and the Pack (shapeshifters) are implicated, she finds herself trying to navigate the tricky path of getting answers without getting herself killed.
This was a decent introduction to the series, with Kate being a likeable heroine who’s suitably tough and smart-mouthed, and the world in which she’s living is a pretty interesting one. I like the idea of the city in flux, and I’m intrigued to see how this develops as the series progresses. There are enough hints dropped to make me interested in what her backstory may be (and what exactly the deal with her blood is), as well as that of her badass smoking sword, Slayer, that seems to have something of a life and appetite of its own. I’m also incredibly glad that the vampires within are not sexy, even if Curran, leader of the Pack, is cut from the same template as most of the love interests you’ll find in this genre.
A successful first outing, I’ll be back for my second soon.