A wizard, a werewolf, and a watchmaker walk into a bar...and don't come out alive.

Two months after the infamous Etruscan Incident, it's back to normal for DSI—as normal as life can be when you hunt monsters on a salary. The rest of Nick Riker's elite team has finally returned from France. Cooper Lee has healed from his nightmare trip to the Eververse. The remnants of the battles with Charun and Tuchulcha have been swept under the rug. And the exploding boathouse in Holden Park has (almost) been rebuilt.

greaaat book, full of fantasy and scifi

SHADE CHASER was a rare type of book, where the police work and procedures felt real, despite the supernatural nature of the cases they are investigating. There was paperwork, there was calling for backup when necessary and there were life-altering injuries to important characters.

This is the second book of the series, and although I had questions about the events of the first book, I never felt too confused to not be interested by the current investigation. There has been a dramatic triple murder in the basement of a well-loved pub, and not only are the three men prominent figures in their field, the event has the potential to start a magical civil war, in a world where most people do not know about magic.

The Crows (or Kooks, as the regular police force calls them) are mostly human, some of which have a few tricks up their sleeve. Cal, the main character, has a bit of magic detection, and a nearly killer case of deja vu. They also carry charged magical rings that can shock or burn their supernatural enemies. Even when faced with more powerful werewolves, wizards and witches, they hold their own and have each other’s back.

There is a big threat to the world than the evil that the Crows are having to deal with in SHADE CHASER, and it’s coming sooner than later. The writing was quick and excellent, with incredibly catchy first sentences to each chapter that drew me in and sometimes earned a chuckle. Seriously, who can resist an opening line like this one: “Everything is going according to plan—until the building explodes.” A must read if you love urban fantasy with a police procedural twist.