A NIGHT OWL REVIEWS BOOK REVIEW | Reviewed by: Leslee
On the surface, The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay appears to be a typical debut in the urban fantasy genre. You have the kick-butt heroine, the long suffering partner, the complicated love life. But what sets it apart, besides the great writing and the unique world building, is the fact that our heroine is a single mom!
Charlie Madigan is an Integration Task Force officer with the Atlanta P.D. The task force came into being when it was discovered that there were two alternate dimensions, one like heaven and the other like hell. Their specialty is bad guys from these alternate dimensions, tracking them down and locking them up. About eight months ago, Charlie died on the job and was brought back. Her partner, Hank is a siren and he is a little overprotective since her accident. It was around this time that Charlie’s marriage imploded. This was due to her husband Will’s one act of infidelity and the fact that he had been practicing black crafting behind her back for years. Charlie doesn’t have any tolerance for black crafting since it was instrumental in the murder of her twin brother, Connor. So, we enter Charlie’s world as her and Hank are responding to a call at her daughter’s private school. A good friend of her daughter’s is unresponsive in the bathroom and it appears she has taken ash. Ash is an essentially fatal drug that has cropped up recently with otherworld origins. Charlie promises her daughter that she will do whatever it takes to help her friend. Little did she know where that promise would lead her and how it would change her life.
Charlie starts out as a take charge, kick butt and take names kind of heroine. But as we get to know her and as events start to unfold you get to see the fears and insecurities that she hides. Her interactions with her ex husband show how torn she is, loving him but not trusting him. Her daughter has a good head on her shoulders and trusts in her mom’s abilities. The other secondary characters, Hank and Charlie’s sister Bryn are intriguing and I look forward to learning more about them. I loved the setting, the world building, and especially the character of Rex. I am not going to give you any clues about him; he was a surprise and added so much to the story. The magic portrayed is familiar and at the same time, uniquely original. I don’t know if I can adequately explain how emotional this book was. The love and protectiveness of a mother for her child as well as her family just gave so much depth to the situation as well as a real sense of urgency. Ms. Gay is joining my list of automatic buys. Get yourself to the bookstore on November 24 and snap this baby up. I will be waiting impatiently for the next book by this star on the rise!
Oct 01, 2009 | 9781439109656
5 - Rare Top Pick | 4.5 - Top Pick | 4 - I Liked It | 3.5 - Enjoyable | 3 - OK | 2.5 - It just didn't click
Book Blurb for The Better Part of Darkness
Divorced mother of one, Charlie Madigan, lives in a world where the beings of heaven and hell exist among us, and they aren't the things of Sunday school lessons and Hallmark figurines. In the years since the Revelation, they've become our co-workers, neighbors, and fellow citizens.
Charlie works for ITF (Integration Task Force). It's her job to see that the continued integration of our new "friends" goes smoothly and everyone obeys the law, but when a new off-world drug is released in Underground Atlanta, her daughter is targeted, and her ex-husband makes a fateful bargain to win her back, there's nothing in heaven or earth (or hell for that matter) that Charlie won't do to set things right.
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