Customer Reviews

A Flash of Hex (OSI)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I read the first OSI novel, Night Child, last year, and thoroughly enjoyed it. However, after reading A Flash of Hex, the OSI series has been rocketed up near the top of my favourite urban fantasy series, and I can't wait for more!

There are many things that are wonderful about the novel. Tess is an excellent heroine, because she is as flawed as she is skilled and talented. This is not a cliched tough-girl heroine who can do no wrong and suffers no consequences! Her life isn't always pretty and polished, and this makes her all the more likeable.

The rest of the cast is excellent as well. These are real people, or they could easily be. The cast is varied, in terms of ethnicity, sexuality, and many other things, which is a breath of fresh air. I was thrilled to see both a deaf character and transgendered characters, both of which were well written and not at all stereotyped.

The storyline is gripping and engaging. Tess and Derrick must investigate the murders of several runaway mages to find out who is responsible and stop them before more bodies pile up. It is gritty and detailed and it is obvious that the author has done his research when it comes to various investigations procedures.

Also, as a Canadian, I loved seeing Vancouver as the setting and seeing mentions of things like Tim Horton's, hockey and other Canadian-isms.

Oh, and a reference to Jem and the Holograms brings much love.

I have really enjoyed the entire OSI series with two exceptions. I would prefer less strange sex (just my personal preference and no real reflection on the author) AND I wish someone would tell Battis "anyway" is already plural and requires no "s" on the end. This is the first time I've run across an author who used "anyways" and I wince very time I see it. I *hear* it a lot, which makes me wince, but that's not nearly as bad as seeing it in print. That Battis is a professor and a teacher makes this close to a hanging offense. If Battis had consulted the dictionary more and used big technical words less, the series would deserve a much higher review than I'm giving it.

I can tell you that I didn't love the first book in this series, Night Child. I did like and really enjoyed A Flash of Hex though! I feel the murders that Tess and Derrick are trying to solve are closer to the heart, and are able to pull the reader in and make them genuinely care. The family dynamic with Tess, Derrick and Mia is really interesting, and everyone that surrounds them lends a hand and is there for each other. This is nice to see from totally unexpected characters. I think my favorite part of this series is the characters. They have feelings, and they actually talk about them, bring them to the surface, and get to that point where they are trying to fix their issues. Which is nice to see when there are so many protagonist who bottle everything up, and let everything build until they explode.

The world created is unique and believable, and Battis does a fantastic job luring the reader into the magic, lives, and investigations that take place in it.

The only complaint I have about the book is the lengthy descriptions about the places Tess visits. I'm all for descriptive details, but there is a point where it's just too much. I felt like the book would have held my interest better had it not been for these descriptions.

All in all A Flash of Hex is a great second book in a series! You could probably get away with not reading book 1, but I'm a firm believer in starting from the beginning!

On an alternate earth, materia (magic) is very common) and those who possess it are brought into CORE (the Conservatory of Mage and Others); there job is to police the supernatural community; especially demons, half-demons, necromancers, and other practitioners of dark magic. Tess Corday is an Occult Special Investigator, who, with her gay partner Derrick make a great investigative team. Mia, Tess's ward, has the VB-positive (vampire retrovirus) and is taking medicine to keep from turning. She knows her family investigates supernatural crimes, but their current one is perhaps the most gruesome yet.

Tess and Derrick go to an apartment where they find the body of a teen floating upside down from the ceiling. He bled out from his carotid artery dripping into a cauldron. The victim is the son of Devorah Kynan, a very powerful mage, who pressures the OCI to find her son's killer. Four other teenage offspring of mages were killed in the last few weeks in a similar fashion. It looks like a magical entity is carrying out a serial killing ritual and needs to be stooped before it completes its task. Tess has to deal with Mr.Corvid, a pureblood demon raised in another realm. He tells her the answers are in her mind if she would only look inside; to do this she would need to take the highly addicted hallucinogenic drug Hex. She gets some answers from her childhood past when she signed up for CORE and now she needs to put the pieces together and find the entity before it kills again

Urban fantasy is obviously in and perhaps satiating the market, but sub-genre fans will relish A FLASH OF HEX, an exciting police procedural with deep fascinating characters who make the world of Battis seem genuine. The tale is loaded with suspense even when Tess learns more about herself than she ever wanted to know. The support cast is filled with flawed characters that enhance the realm, but the bottom line remains this is Tess' tale as she and Derrick go after a supernatural serial killer.

Harriet Klausner

She is yet another self conscious but strong female lead, but still very likable. The whole supporting cast is a lovable rag tag group. The fact that its a male author writing from a female point of view impresses me.

Still reeling from her late boss's betrayal, Occult Special Investigator Tess Corday isn't prepared for the savagery of her latest case. But when an anonymous serial killer targets runaway children of Vancouver's magic elite, she jumps aboard before she understands what's at risk. When the victims circle perilously close to Tess and her foster daughter, she glimpses the unwelcome truth about her family, her past, and this killer.

I rated Battis' prior novel five stars at the height of my infatuation with urban fantasy, which I now increasingly regard as an essentially repetitive genre, so perhaps my disappointment reflects me more than this book. But this novel reads like strings of finger exercises grafted onto a story that should have been much better. This book needed more time to gestate before venturing out to meet the world.

Battis' biggest limitation is his lush descriptions. I know writing mentors tell apprentices to pay close attention to the telling details that make stories plausible, but too much of a good thing is another problem. Battis gorges readers with details of every character's wardrobe, every room Tess enters, every streetscape she surveys, every item she investigates, until I wonder whether he gets paid by the word.

As images mount, scenes drain of tension and suspense. Descriptions of rooms, streets, and characters' appearances run two or three pages, sometimes longer, and the story halts until everything is described. One climactic murder scene should be horrifying, but by the end, I found myself giggling. One sex scene lapses into such florid imagery that I felt it start ingrowing when I should have felt ardor.

Which is a shame because, absent these shortcomings, it's a pretty good story. A firm editor could pare this down to an energetic, scary novella that would make for a satisfying evening's reading. But major publishing houses demand full-length novels, and they demand them at least once a year, ready or not. Battis deserves more time between books than he's clearly been given to work out the kinks.

As another reviewer said, this is an interesting mix of science and magic. Urban fantasy, mixed with the grit of street life, mystery, relationship issues, even a little sex, and suspense. I'm not a fan of gore. There is some of that here but it doesn't spend excessive amounts of time on it, just what is necessary to move the story along. I'll be looking for more by this author. She's better than average for this genre but I have to say, Charles de Lint is my all time fave. His style is more magic and mystery without the vampires, demons and gore.

After reading Night Child last year I was eagerly waiting for this sequel, A Flash of Hex and it was worth waiting for. Tess is an occult special investigator (OSI) working in Vancouver, BC on some serial murders of kids who are users of a supernatural street drug called Hexstacy, as well as all being children of powerful (read supernatural) families. She and her merry band of cohorts; including her gay mind reading partner Derrick, the necromancer Lucien, whom she is powerfully attracted to, a transsexual fire generating mage, and a deaf materia reader (don't ask) are on the trail of the killer, whoever or whatever it may be.

Without giving too much away, the story is well woven and the characters are fleshed out in great detail. The descriptions of the settings and the action are rich and full of detail. The dialogs between the various characters are well devised and often quite funny. They pretty well all have a flair with words and display their various shortcomings and neuroses. I particularly liked the interplay between Tess, Derrick and Mia, their adopted 14 year old pre-vampire ward. He has been able to create tons of real sounding dialog (most of the time). For a newish fiction author he has a good grasp of the language people use in the real world.

The story unfolds as it jumps from one murder investigation to the next; taking brief pauses at the autopsy table in their lab. The scientific descriptions and explanations, while somewhat long and detailed actually add much to the overall flavour. And I also liked the tours through Vancouver's trendy and seedier areas as they look for more evidence or clues.

I found some of the story development to be somewhat predictable for the genre, but Battis makes up for it in some excellent action/fight sequences and this undercurrent of sexual desire between Tess and her lover boy.

I liked it so much I read it twice; taking my time the second time around to savour the flavour. Spicy and hot but not too hot, like good Thai.

A Flash of Hex is the second book from Jes Battis in her OSI series. OSI is the group of Occult Special Investigators and takes place in Vancouver, Canada. I didn't read, Night Child, the first book in this new series, but A Flash of Hex brings the reader up to speed about everything going on in Tess Corday's life. Tess is an OSI along with her best friend and roommate, Derrick Siegel. They work for Vancouver's Mystical Crime Lab. I can't help but compare Tess and Derrick's relationship to that one of Will and Grace, but with a supernatural slant. Tess is Grace and Derrick is Will. And you know what, it really works! In so many past urban fantasies I have read, the heroine of the piece is all alone with no family or friends. She is stunted socially and has major issues. Tess does have some problems, mainly with her mother and a man she shouldn't be involved with. A Flash of Hex is heavy on the suspense and the shocking horror of the crimes committed, but there are some nice lighthearted moments. Jes Battis is one author you will want to keep on your radar, especially if you are in the mood for a different type or urban fantasy, with a great first person POV.

As Tess and Derrick are deciding on what type of doughnuts they want, they are called to a crime scene that is very gory and disturbing. The victim is a young teenage boy who has been tortured and killed. He was also a drug user addicted to a very potent new drug called Hextacy. The victim's mother is a very powerful mage who wants retribution for her only son's death. Now Tess and Derrick are on a deadline to catch this killer before they strike again.

When such dark magic is used in horrendous ways, danger is around every corner. Tess has no choice but to turn to the mysterious necromancer, Lucian Agrado. Tess has been warned not to become too close to Lucian. A romantic relationship will not be tolerated between these two by Tess's unseen bosses. But Jess has crossed that line already and she realizes she places herself and everyone she cares about in a bad situation if she continues to act on her desire for Lucian. Every time Tess is with Lucian, her internal arguments on why she shouldn't do anything with him is funny. If I were in the same place, I would do the same because Lucian is one sexy guy with a great deal of power at his fingertips. And he sure does know how to use those hands in wonderful ways when it comes to Tess.

Along with Lucian and Miles Sedgewick, who is deaf, a profiler and a love interest for Derrick, Tess and her group enter into the underworld of dark magic, drug trafficking and drug use. Tess witnesses things she never thought possible, including more murders of young misunderstood teens, some who have incredible powers at their disposal. Not only is the stress of the case getting to Tess, she also has to deal with Mia, the vampire teen she and Derrick have taken into their home. Tess is not cut out to be a parent and can barely keep it together as she and Lucian continue to step around their attraction for one another. And because of her mother, Jess doesn't realize she may be closer to the killer than she thinks.

Jes Battis has written a wonderful book that mixes science and magic as well as mystery and suspense. A Flash of Hex has a bit of everything. There are pop culture references throughout and nice romance undertones between Tess and Lucian. Ms. Battis makes sure that Derrick gets a bit of love action also. I love the friendship between Tess and Derrick, especially when the talk about things other than the case. They have a great relationship that I wish I could read in other urban fantasies such as this one. I am so used to reading about a heroine like Tess not having any family or friends to turn to. That is not the case with A Flash of Hex.

The crimes are horrible and the outcome even worse as some diabolical being is targeting teenage boys who are lost in the world. And when you find out why, you will be as shocked as Tess is.

There are so many urban fantasy books saturating the market that may be a bit too alike in their telling, but that is definitely not the case with Jes Battis. If you are a die hard urban fantasy enthusiast I urge you to pick up A Flash of Hex.

Katiebabs

Night Child (OSI, Book 1)

"A Flash of Hex" has a modern-day with magic setting. The lead character, T--, is a female detective. The book opens with a particularly gory murder scene. T-- and her partner D-- will be in charge of the murder investigation. The victim's mother is extremely rich and powerful (via both money and magic), which adds a bit of stress to the investigation.

I didn't read book #1, but felt that this didn't harm the reading experience. The author does a decent job of supplying back plot (in appropriate brevity) where needed.

I had three problems with this book. First, T-- is a bully. She is abrasive, selfish, inconsiderate, and agressive. Many other main characters are also bullies (the victim's mom, T--'s boss). I don't understand why anyone would like T-- and found the hospital scene entirely unrealistic. Second, the first few chapters are VERY gory, worse than 90% of horror movies. I like horror movies, but this.... Third, about once a page I would ask my self "who said that?" or "who is that?". There were a multitude of spoken text (in quotes) that weren't associated with any indication of who said it (the "every other spoken text" rule didn't always work). Also, characters were called several different names, but we weren't told that this was the same person. This made for VERY difficult reading.

I could have forgiven any one of these problems, but all three together made for an unpleasant reading experience.