Hexed (Hexed, #1)

by Michael Alan Nelson

[Angie]

Lucifer is a thief and knows the secrets of the magical realm. She steals magical objects that if in the wrong hands could mean disaster. But in Hexed, a cop hires her to find his missing daughter. She's not just missing though. She was taken by a witch into the Shade, the realm of death. Lucifer needs the money, but she also knows she just can't leave Gina to her fate, so she takes on her most dangerous job yet. With the help of Gina's boyfriend and some new acquaintances, Lucifer must find her way into Witchdown and a way back out alive.

Hexed was quite a lot of fun, mostly thanks to Lucifer's bag of tricks. She carries around a lot of weird stuff, but it helps her get into places she needs to go, and to get out of all kinds of sticky situations (who knew that all you need for an exorcism was a pepper shaker!). She does not mess around! And don't call her Luci. Her name is Lucifer in honor of her grandmothers, Luci and Jenifer. Lucifer is not afraid to do what it takes in order to save someone from the evilist of evils. Even if it means facing death herself.

The plot of Hexed was engaging and fast paced. It did get a little repetitive at times, since Lucifer would find an answer she needed, then that plan would get thwarted, and she'd have to find something else, and so on and so forth. That did keep things constantly moving though and allowed us to learn more and more about the magical world, which is super dark and interesting. Witches are truly the embodiment of evil here, and they'll make you want to get rid of every mirror in your house.

Hexed does have a minor romance element. I wasn't totally on board, but there's a twist at the end that I really liked. Of course, the kind of romance is between Lucifer and Gina's boyfriend, David. Lucifer hasn't spent too much time around boys, and David is really hot and nice and brave, so I can understand her crushing on him. She doesn't act on it though, since obviously he has a girlfriend. But they are thrown into many high adrenaline situations and spend a lot of time together, so feelings totally arise. I don't believe for a second that they fell in love, but maybe they felt that way because of all of the excitement. Don't worry, there's no cheating. Like I said, there's a pretty great twist. It made me feel bad for Lucifer, and it makes me wonder if there's something more to come in regards to that as the series continues (if this is indeed a series).

In the end, I really liked Hexed. It seemed like a unique take on witches and demons. Those Sisters of Witchdown are not messing around!

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.