Review: Industrial Magic

Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong (Women of theOtherworld #4)
Publisher:  Bantam
Published:  October26, 2004
Format:  Ebook, 560pages
Genre:     UrbanFantasy

From Goodreads:

In the aftermath ofher mother’s murder, Paige broke with the elite, ultraconservative AmericanCoven of Witches. Now her goal is to start a new Coven for a new generation.But while Paige pitches her vision to uptight thirty-something witches inbusiness suits, a more urgent matter commands her attention.

Someone is murderingthe teenage offspring of the underworld’s most influential Cabals- a circle offamilies that makes the mob look like amateurs. And none is more powerful thanthe Cortex Cabal, a faction Paige is intimately acquainted with. Lucas Cortez,the rebel son and unwilling heir, is none other than her boyfriend. But loveisn’t blind, and Paige has her eyes wide open as she is drawn into a hunt foran unnatural-born killer. Pitted against shamans, demons, and goons, it’s abattle chilling enough to make a wild young woman grow up in a hurry. If shegets the chance.

Industrial Magic is the fourth book in the Women of theOtherworld series and is from the perspective of the witch, Paige Winterbourne.We last left Paige trying to take care of her new ward and fellow witch,Savannah, and starting a new relationship with a sorcerer, Lucas Cortez. Nowshe is trying to establish a new witch coven that is more tolerate andaccepting than the American Coven. Paige is one of my favorite femalecharacters in the Otherworld series. She is strong, independent and veryfeisty. She is constantly challenging accepted norms within the supernaturalworld. She doesn’t want to be hindered by the existing witches’ traditions andmentality. She wants to grow and be able to protect herself, not just sit backand let the evil powers take over. She is a great character and verywell-written and developed.

Paige and Lucas make a great pair.  Both are always learning, wanting to increasetheir knowledge of spells. Her inquisitiveness is one of my favorite of hertraits.  They are willing to teach eachspells that were only meant for a sorcerer or a witch. Paige is always lookoutfor a new speill, even if that spell is dark magic. She has to be pretty sneakybecause she doesn’t want Savannah to be aware of anything dark magic. I thinktheir dynamic is pretty comical when it comes to using dark magic. Savannahdoesn’t see it as a big deal and Paige tries to take the high road. It is aconstant disagreement for them.

Since starting their budding relationship, Paige and Lucasare trying to maintain a level of trust that isn’t common among witches andsorcerers. With Paige’s introduction to the Cortez Cabal, finding that trust isa challenge. I like that we are given a more detailed understanding of theCabals. The Cortez Cabal reminds me of the Corleone Family. You love them butyou hate them at the same time. Lucas, like Michael Corleone, is constantlybeing dragged into the family business. His father is very manipulative andtries at every turn to convince him to be more involved in the family business.Lucas and Paige constantly struggle with his family to maintain theirindependence.

I’m really liking that the series is continues to bring inmore of the supernatural characters. Besides witches, vampires are now frontand center. They are at the center of the Cabal murders. Cassandra and Adamsmake for some interesting characters. The werewolves also make an appearance,as does Jamie Vegas, necromancer. Even Eve Levine has some serious time in thisnovel. Like all of the books in this series, Industrial Magic is wonderfullyfast-paced and a great read.

Rating: 4 out of 5