Early Review: Blade Song

Blade Song

J.C Daniels

Publisher: Inscribe Digital - Will be Published on 1st August 2012

E-arc Courtesy of netgalley & Inscribe Digital

Kit Colbana—half breed, assassin, thief, jack of all trades—has a new job: track down the missing ward of one of the local alpha shapeshifters. It should be a piece of cake. So why is she so nervous? It probably has something to do with the insanity that happens when you deal with shifters—especially sexy ones who come bearing promises of easy jobs and easier money. Or maybe it’s all the other missing kids that Kit discovers while working the case, or the way her gut keeps screaming she’s gotten in over her head. Or maybe it’s because if she fails—she’s dead. If she can stay just one step ahead, she should be okay. Maybe she’ll even live long to collect her fee...

This is one of the most promising starts to a new Urban Fantasy series I’ve read in long time. Kit is a damaged but still fighting character. She grew up suffering abuse from the hands of her ‘noble’ warrior kin who despised her being half human. She left as soon as she could and set herself up as an investigator in Florida. When the local Cat Clan hires her to find the missing nephew of their Alpha, Kit finds her unable to resist because of his youth – and finds herself with a new shadow/bodyguard until the job is done. Kit is tough and resilient but she is also not quite a strong physically as a lot other supernatural creatures so she doesn’t always win. But she has a magic blade and never takes the easy way out. She uses her brain and determination to power through. She doesn’t always make the right decision – in fact she does get it wrong, but she gets wrong for the right reason. In short she is one tough cookie who will continue to stand up and fight even when everything appears lost.

There is a lot happening in the story which moves at a cracking pace. Kit’s bodyguard is a mystery – a complete jackass to start with but he soon grows on you. While I still don’t understand him, by the end he is more firmly our jackass rather than anyone else – I may even have developed a sweet spot for him! The world is full of shifters, vampires and witches all learning to live side by side with humans in an uneasy truce. While this might seem familiar with a number of other UF worlds, somehow JC Daniels has infused Florida with enough differences and variations to make it her own. The witch houses are fascinating as are some of the characters introduced there – Es and Kori especially. The pace is brutally fast and you need to focus on every line, but makes the world so immersive and real. This is a series which will continue to grow and expand – definitely one that will push most UF fans buttons and I’m already looking forward to the next instalment!.

Recommended for fans of Ilona Andrews and Karen Chance. 8.5 out of 10.