Fast paced, with a deep magical system and fantastic characters. Mack has taken me on an amazing ride. I didn't know it was part of a series when I first picked it up and I still managed to pick things up and put them together. The pacing is tightly written and there wasn't a minute where I thought I should be doing something else.

The hard hitting attacks, the injuries, the deaths and unflinching attitude towards it left me fearful of a world like this while the fights left me rooting for Anja & Cade.

I am going to be going back and hunting for more of David Mack's work.

Thank you #NetGalley for letting me have a digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

It starts off slow and kind of dense, but once the action begins, it's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. It reads as a true epic, one that makes you feel the world really has been reshaped as you read it. Would recommend.

I remember first hearing about this series before it came out and thinking that it sounded right up my alley. I was right! And now years later I'm sad to see it go but certainly enjoyed the ride. This is the last of the trilogy and as such there's definitely bigger stakes at play. It's gritty, violent, and action packed. Our heroes aren't invincible and always leave a battle worse off then when they started. Be prepared to shed a few tears if you have a bond with these characters. I definitely recommend this book!

As spoiler-free as possible, The Shadow Commission is the final chapter in David Mack’s Dark Arts Trilogy and in true Mack fashion, finishes with a high-speed roller coaster ride as our heroes continue dancing around the real-world events of the Cold War to fight the Shadow Commission, a rival cluster of mages with a hidden agenda.

Shadow Commission kicks off in November of 1963, 9 years after the events of The Iron Codex, the second book in the Dark Arts series. Our heroes Cade Martin and Anja Kernova are living quietly in the cracks of history, training a new generation of magicians, while their frienemy Briet Segfrunsdóttir is in charge of the U.S.’s militarized Occult Defense Program when the assassination of John Kennedy kicks off a series of events to determine the future of all magic users as their centuries-long magical Cold War becomes an inferno.

If you’ve read the previous books then you know Shadow Commission is not for the squeamish, filled with hard-drinking and drug-using mages that deal out violent deaths or crippling injuries with demented demons for company in their heads, Cade and the rest of the users of the Dark Arts live in constant discomfort when carrying the power of yolked demons.

Whether it’s magical warfare or demonic torture, Mack doesn’t romanticize any aspect of the combat or magic with the description of these graphic acts, leaving us with engaging depictions of the blood and sweat our characters shed in their fight for survival, which adds an intensity to the read as you follow along in this closing chapter.

I am too ashamed to tell you how little I read before I decided I couldn't read any more of this book.

First, and in my defence, this is book three in a series, and not really the start of a spin-off series as NetGalley led me to believe. Consequently, the narrative bounced between (I kid you not) monks in Nepal, four elderly oligarchs plotting in London, two magicians running a magic school in Greece, talk of Nazi magicians and some sort of FBI style magical agent in the US. There's a supernatural murder and an rumour of an attempted assassination of President Kennedy. I'm sure if I had read the two preceding books some of this would have made sense or at least I might have recognised some of the characters.

Second, mixing recent history with magic and a murder mystery plot seemed like at least one element too many.

Finally, I found the writing style to be laboured, the Sam Spade style of speaking, the downloading of all the backstory which is just lobbed at the reader in indigestible dollops. I don't care about what musician's music is playing in the background, or what flavour icing someone is putting on the cake, or minute details of the inner workings of a character's mind.

I must have started and given up on this book six or seven times and given up after a few pages. Eventually I decided it just wasn't for me.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Shadow Commission by David Mack, a good beginning but had a hard time staying interested as it went on. Thank you for giving me a chance with this book and I do think others will enjoy it.

When I requested this novel I was into the ideal of reading this novel but I discovered that I was unable to provide feedback on this book due to the series being archived prior to download and file/download issues. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience of not being to review and thank you for taking the time to provide me an ARC of this novel.

I was expecting a lighter urban fantasy than I got, but that's on me! This was fast paced, intelligent and action packed. It does not pull punches. Be prepared for a body count including characters you bond with! I thought the central idea was very clever and I enjoyed the ride. I'm keen to read on in the series. But it does hit you here it hurts so be warned!

Wow. Note to self: don't read any more of this series. It's well written, well edited, well told, but the body count is <i>really brutal</i>. Not just in nameless mooks (though certainly that), but in people who matter very much to the main characters. Many, many people. So many.

The main characters, though flawed, are deeply principled, which is why instead of trying to buy them off, a reclusive billionaire who's trying to get a monopoly on magick orders them killed. That... doesn't work out well for anyone.

The series is gradually making its way through the decades; the first (which I haven't read) was in World War II, the second in the 1950s, and this one is in the 1960s, and involves a secret history of the Kennedy assassination. The historical side seems well handled, as far as I can tell, being no expert; no glaring anachronisms leaped out at me. The ceremonial/goetic magic(k) has a bit more colour and heft than the usual invented-out-of-nothing urban fantasy magic. The main characters' background as spies is well used. There's a heist, albeit a brief one. There are many, many desperate fights (with the aforesaid high body count), which are well described.

Even though it's much more violent than I prefer (with a large helping of swearing and some drug use), I never seriously considered stopping, because it's extremely well done. Just not the kind of thing I really like to read, sadly. I'm giving it four stars anyway, for quality.

I received a copy via Netgalley for review.