Lady of Silver
Blood and Silver
Urban Fantasy
Kensington
February 21, 2017
[I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review]
There were several good things about this book, but also several things that bothered me. First, I liked the setting and the history portrayed in the book. The main female character, Saba, is a member of the race of Albah. The Albah have magic powers of various sorts (it varies from person to person). There is also an ancient race called the Albanex, who are essentially vampires. (I’m not going into more detail to avoid spoilers).
Dale Morgan is a detective with the police and trying to solve a string of murders. He runs into a dead end with the case, and ends up consulting with Saba to get more information. Through a series of events, both Saba and Dale are drawn into a much bigger and more dangerous series of events. The finale is climactic and satisfying.
My first complaint with the story is that much of the tension in the book is caused directly by the main characters withholding information. I get it – the Albah are a secret race and nobody is supposed to know about them. But Saba shares plenty (one might say too much) information that isn’t really critical and then holds out on a few nuggets of information that set off a chain of stupid and avoidable events. Saba also withholds information from her sister about murderers stalking her, and then worries about the murderers finding her sister through her very-public workplace (that Saba owns). Emotions run high in the book, but I think a little practicality is warranted when death is on the line, especially since her sister is Albah and has powers of her own. Artificial tension is annoying.
I also felt that Dale unnecessarily withheld information, and acted somewhat irrationally. In one scene he is blown away by Saba’s presence and is gaga over her, and in the next scene he is a hard-assed detective reading her the riot act and not telling her key information about the Albanex and murders. Some elements of romantic tension can cause mood swings, but things seemed extreme to me.
In the end, despite some shortcomings, I did enjoy the story and the character interaction. The romantic element was well-done (except for extreme mood swings), and the minor characters were interesting. I am interested in reading the next book to see where things go from here.