Magic Strikes (Kate Daniels, #3)

by Ilona Andrews

[EBookObsessed]

Okay. Okay. Now I see what everyone is going on and on about. Like a kid hiding under the blankets with a flashlight, I snuck this one onto my overburdened TBR list and raced through it. This series definitely needs to be read, not listened to by audiobook!

Kate is contacted by Saiman after he finds Derek breaking into his apartment and trying to steal his tickets to the illegal, gladiator-type fights known as the Midnight Games. Saiman recognizes Derek from the last time Kate visited him with the werewolf in tow. He makes a deal with Kate to release Derek to her and not involve the authorities. The authority being Curran who as Beast Lord would have to punish Derek severely, first for the B&E and secondly because Curran laid down the law the no shifter could attend the Midnight Games — EVER!

Derek is one the few people Kate considers a friend and he is obviously in over his head on something to risk that type of punishment from the Beast Lord, but whatever Derek’s problem, he won’t let Kate help.

But there is one thing she can do. Kate agrees to escort Saiman to the Games for his silence. Saiman not only wants Kate there in his continued attempts to seduce her but also for her abilities as a warrior to assess the combatants. There is a group of fighters calling themselves The Reapers, who are testing as human, but there is no way they could be surviving all these fights against supernaturals without some type of magical or supernatural ability.

Kate knows from first glance that these warriors are not 100 percent human. The one fighter has skin too perfect. No healed cuts, no small scars. And another has an absolutely uniform tattoo covering most of his body. Impossible since he could not have had all that work done at the same time and this fighter also has no flaws in the ink, no scars, no cuts. These fighters couldn’t possibly be human, but how can they possible fool the m-scans and the blood tests?

The winner of the games will win a gemstone unlike any other. When Kate learns that The Reapers are trying to win it so they can carve it down to use to destroy all the shifters, Kate has no choice but to enter the ring herself in order to keep all her friends safe.

THOUGHTS:
There was a huge difference in my enjoyment of the story since I read this novel vs. listening to the audiobook. There is the fact that a lot of this story involves the gladiator-type games which was easier to follow than some of the other story lines. But when we get into the why and the what-the-hell-are-those and what’s with the flying castle which all involve Hindu legends, it was a lot easier to absorb the details while reading.

Who doesn’t enjoy the tension between Curran and Kate, although I will complain that it was a very quick change of mind from Curran calling Kate his personal nightmare to wanting her as his mate but who can argue since I like their chemistry. I have also been enjoying the quick Curran POV shorts that you can get free on the Ilona Andrews website. Especially the Hot Tub scene from Curran’s POV.

This is a very interesting Urban Fantasy series, with great world building and interesting characters, but you have to give the story your full attention if you want to understand it.