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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Magical troubleshooters., July 31, 2007
This review is from: In the Midnight Hour (Light Warriors, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
Ryne Frasier is a magical troubleshooter. She is sworn to protect the innocent from harmful magic. For the last six years Ryne has been chasing Anise MacAlister, her former mentor. Anise is now completely corrupted from using dark magic. Since Ryne had been sent to Anise, at the age of twelve, for her formal live-in seven years of training, the Gineal Council decided Ryne knew the dark user better than any other and the best to hunt her down. But after six years now Ryne seems no closer to tracking Anise down, much less defeating the dark user in battle and bringing her before the Gineal Council.
Ryne has another mystery to solve now too. Ryne has been watching an animated private eye show on television at night. At the end of each episode, Deke Summers, P.I. takes off his glasses and stares into the camera. Ryne is positive she sees a real man's soul trapped within the character. Ryne takes a big risk and uses gray magic to pull the trapped man from the cartoon character.
Of course, this means the Gineal Council comes knocking on her door for using forbidden magic. They fear Ryne may be tempted over to dark magic since her mentor had been. But learning the reasons, the council grants Ryne time. Ryne's incantation grants Deke only temporary freedom. Anise's spell returns Deke to his cartoon at the next full moon - only two weeks away. No one knows why Deke is a threat to Anise. But it is clear Anise used a great deal of magic to kill Deke, and failing that, place the man within a cartoon character. Worse, Anise has found a way to bypass the protection around Ryne's home. Not physically, but mentally. Anise has been invading Ryne's mind and dreams recently. And Ryne's mind shield is slowly fading. It will not be long before Ryne is vulnerable.
***** This story starts out with a magical battle in a graveyard. Needless-to-say, it gripped me quickly and held on tight. The tale slows down a bit in the middle, but during that time readers learn more about the Gineal and watch as Ryne and Deke become close. Some secondary and minor characters (of Ryne's magical world) have their own charm and I have hope they will get their own stories told in the future. I found this to be a solid foundation for the author's new series to build upon and look forward to more from Patti O'Shea soon! Terrific new series! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sucks You In, September 17, 2007
This review is from: In the Midnight Hour (Light Warriors, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I picked this book up in a hurry on the way to an appointment when I knew I'd be sitting in a waiting room and needed something to read. What a lucky choice!
This is the first of Ms. O'Shea's novels that I've read, but it won't be the last. Well developed plot, characters and settings allowed me to quickly sink into this story without distractions.
Deke Summers is our hero here. A regular human unaware of the secret magical race called the "Gineal" who have been living alongside us for centuries, Deke gets cursed by a practitioner of the dark arts in a particularly creative way.
Ryne Frasier is one of the good Gineals and when she realizes Deke's plight, she does her utmost to get him out of it, even though she's never met the guy. Together they have to figure out a way to defeat the dark practitioner to keep Deke from being cursed forever.
Ryne is known as a "Troubleshooter" - the magical go-to girl who steps in when things start going bad. The opening scene of this book illustrated her job quite well, and I was braced for an action packed ride. However, surprisingly, our characters spend much more time with each other than they do battling evil - which is a good thing.
Although I enjoy the action too, often the development of characters and relationship gets lost in an action oriented story. Not so in this case. Ms. O'Shea does a great job of balancing the two and we get to see our hero and heroine build a real relationship and the development of their feelings for each other.
I will be looking forward to the next book in this series and hoping it's about Creed, another troubleshooter we meet briefly. He sounded like a hottie to me!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great Opener to A Promising New Series! (4 1/2 stars), September 13, 2007
This review is from: In the Midnight Hour (Light Warriors, Book 1) (Mass Market Paperback)
I've been a fan of Patti O'Shea since I read Ravyn's Flight many years ago and she continues to write great stories! In The Midnight Hour is no exception.
In her first TOR paranormal romance, O'Shea introduces a whole new universe. This story features Ryne, a gineal (magical law enforcement of a type) and a cursed PI - Deke, whom is freed by Ryne's magic.
The heart of the book is really Ryne's struggle to deal with the responsibility of her power and the need to rely on gray areas to do her job. Her attraction to Deke is complicated by her own personal issues and past abuse at the hands of her former mentor.
O'Shea handles the complicated pasts of both characters and the seriously fabulous villian really well and the story is quite engaging.
A great opener to what promises to be a (another) wonderful series from O'Shea.
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