Hard Magic
This is a strong start to a new series. Bonnie is an interesting narrator — more naïve than some of Gilman’s other protagonists, but just as capable and intelligent. The supporting cast is also fascinating. The plot is engaging and compelling, but remains a smidge unresolved, perhaps purposefully. Fans of Gilman’s other novels in this setting will definitely enjoy this volume, while new readers may find some of the worldbuilding confusing, though not overly so. Using the same setting as her Retrievers novels, Gilman looks at the world of Talent from a different perspective, this time through the eyes of Bonnie Torres, an investigator with the fledgling PUPI — Private, Unaffiliated, Private Investigators — organization. Bonnie and the team are new to the world of forensic investigation involving Talent, and their first case will stretch them and their Talents to their limits. After an apparent double suicide, the victims’ daughter hires PUPI to find the truth — no matter what it may be. –Romantic Times, 4 Stars
, etc.), Gilman launches an entertaining new series set in her Cosa Nostradamus world of magic-using Talented humans. Following up on a mysterious job lead, college grad Bonita Torres joins the Private Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigations (PUPI), a freelance CSI-style unit for Talent-related crimes. The “puppies” refine and practice spells until they get their first big case: an apparent double suicide. As they follow the evidence, trail and interrogate suspects, and defend themselves against attacks, the investigators develop comfortable and engaging team dynamics and create the field of forensic magic. Gilman’s deft plotting and first-class characters complement her agile blend of science and spell craft, and readers will love the Mythbusters-style fun of smart, sassy people solving mysteries through experimentation, failure, and blowing stuff up. –Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
by Chris Knopf
and four other Hamptons mysteries). In the summer of 1969, life on the sunny New Jersey resort island of Elysiana simmers as town cops feud with the beach patrol, fed-up wives elude their slimy husbands, local politicians double-cross each other, lots of dope flows everywhere, and various needy, wounded people—such as a brain-damaged lifeguard, a young woman from Chicago who fled her lecherous dad, and a smalltime criminal who’s also a maniac surfer—look for reasons to go on. Knopf sets up a lot of competing characters capable of semiclever scheming to get what they want, then shows a massive hurricane ripping their plans and their island apart. Like John D. Macdonald or Charles Willeford in a lighter mood, he’s unsentimentally fond of his characters and tentatively hopeful about their ability to salvage something from the wreckage around them. –Publishers Weekly
. Theo Waitley, half-Terran daughter of a Liaden pilot, escapes her stifling homeworld to attend pilot school, where her fierce attitude and extraordinary competence earn her enemies and friends. When her boyfriend’s keepsake makes them both a target for galactic-level bad guys, Theo must head to Liad to ask for help from the leader of her father’s clan. The story will not disappoint longtime Lee and Miller fans, but readers don’t need to know the series to understand or care about the characters, who will also appeal to fans of Elizabeth Moon’s Kylara Vatta and other strong young adult heroines. –Publishers Weekly