Review: Black Magic Sanction

Title: Black Magic Sanction
Author: Kim Harrison
Publisher: Harpercollins Publishers
Published: February 23, 2010
Format: Hardcover ($33.99 CDN)

From The Publisher:

Rachel Morgan has fought and hunted vampires, werewolves, banshees, demons, and other supernatural dangers as both witch and bounty hunter-and lived to tell the tale. But she's never faced off against her own kind . . . until now. Denounced and shunned for dealing with demons and black magic, her best hope is life imprisonment-at worst, a forced lobotomy and genetic slavery. Only her enemies are strong enough to help her win her freedom, but trust comes hard when it hinges on the unscrupulous tycoon Trent Kalamack, the demon Algaliarept, and an ex-boyfriend turned thief.  It takes a witch to catch a witch, but survival bears a heavy price.

My Review:

Kim Harrison is one of my favorite authors so my anticipation and expectations for a Hallows novel always have me eagerly awaiting the release date with the certainty that I will be in for an entertaining reading experience.  I love Urban Fantasy novels and Kim Harrison does an excellent job of weaving a vast array of supernatural elements into the known world but what she does even better is create dynamic, fierce, lovable and sometimes detestable characters.  In the Hollows series Kim Harrison has created characters that I have become attached to and depending on the direction the plot is going you can find me laughing so hard the tears stream down my face, gripping the book with white knuckled anxiety, holding my breath in anticipation, or biting my bottom lip while softly crying.  Over the course of reading Black Magic Sanction I experienced the full array of the aforementioned emotions and at one point I was so fearful for the direction she was taking a beloved character I was ready to chuck the book across the room. With each addition to the series I feel as though the protagonist, Rachel Morgan is continuing to discover more of herself and in the process she is truly finding her voice.  The plot of this novel really helped to re-solidify the bond Rachel has created between herself and her chosen family as well as question her personal morals and values.  I think lovers of this series will immensely enjoy the plot of the novel, the further development into why Rachel is able to twist demon curses, the new romantic interest, the lovable connection to Bis, Rachel's Gargoyle, and the always entertaining, lovable, laughable Jenks.  As you can tell I have attempted to write this review spoiler free and I hope I have succeeded in gaining your interest in this series without giving anything away.  I hope that if you have not read a Kim Harrison novel you will take the chance on picking one up because I would be very surprised if you didn't like it if you are a lover of the Urban Fantasy genre.  I eagerly await the next novel in the Hollows series which I have heard rumor will be released in Spring 2011.  With possibly a year to wait until the next novel is out I hope to find a new series or two with characters and plots that grip me as much as this one does.

My Rating: The best I have!