J. C. Daniels: Blade Song

The debut novel by J. C. Daniels (but she does know a thing or two about writing as she also goes by the name of Shiloh Walker), Daniels brings the reader into the P.I world of Kit Colbana who may looks human but she is always reminded that she is only a half-breed.

Kit Colbana has been a jack of all trades, most of which involve not wanting to meet her in a dark alley, as you are likely not to leave that ally alive. Although Kit has many talents, she has decided to set up shop as a private investigator and while work started off great, when the human started move out of her part of town business has been slow and she really needs a job. The next one that walks in her door has a big payout, but she is leery about working for one of the alpha's local shapeshifters. But there is a missing kid involved and Kit has a soft spot for missing children stemming from her own horrible childhood. Along the way Kit discovers that there is more than one missing kid from different areas, group and abilities that seems like no one is looking for. Kit enters into a deadly game of hide and seek, where she has to use all of her knowledge and abilities to try to survive.

I have never read anything by Shiloh Walker before so I am unable to compare the difference between the books, though based upon the book covers of the Walker authored novels, I do not think that those books would be for me, looks like they would fall into the paranormal romance genre. I found that this had a an interesting premise, storyline and characters, that just flowed well throughout and will be keep the reader engaged from the first page. However, Daniels does not add anything too new to the paranormal/urban fantasy formula other than the introduction of Aneira, better known as Amazons. I find the Aneira culture very interesting and I want to know about their culture, powers and where they fit within the world.

I like the main character in this book, she has the ability to focus on the task and is not distracted by Men too much, especially at the beginning of the book, she was all about focusing on the job (this does change as the book continues on, but this has become part of the urban fantasy formula). I like how the reader receives snippets of Kit's past, mainly from her training and grandmother's abuse and while it does seem like we get a large amount of information about her past, you still get the feeling that there is more to tell and I cannot wait to find out more about Kit's past. Additionally, I found that Kit was not overly typical of the female protagonist in the paranormal genre, there are times when she is stubborn or will not take anyone's advice, and she really does hate answering questions all the time, but for the most part she does not come across as bitchy or self centered. I also liked the powers that Daniels gave to Kit, especially her ability with weapons. I thought that the ability to call her sword when she needed it was really neat, and I liked the direction that Daniels is taking this power. Furthermore, I liked that Daniels did not just show all of Kit's powers right off the bat and hinted more than once, that she had additional tricks in her bag that she did not want those around her to know about, so I look forward to seeing what additional abilities Kit has.

There is some sexual tension and romance in this book, which I think will help it appeal to the individuals who enjoy paranormal romance and possible to the fans of her works under Shiloh Walker. I did not mind the sexual tension in the beginning of the book, however, I was not a fan of how quick Kit becomes to rely on Damon in more that just a partnership to find the children way. Nevertheless, I am interested in seeing how their relationship develops, I have come to accepted that the romance in the paranormal/urban fantasy genre now seem to go hand in hand (for the most part, there still are some exceptions out there).

This book it a mix of some earlier Luarell K Hamilton Anita Blake series and Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series (though the romance part move faster than in both the Hamilton and Andrews series). I can see different aspects of those authors within this book from the plot to the characters, and as I enjoy both these authors a lot (well the earlier Hamilton books, not so much the new ones) I think that people who like them as well will enjoy this book as long as they are not looking for something different and new in the paranormal genre. All in all a really good debut novel, that is sure to impress those who are a fan of the paranormal genre, Daniels books are going to be ones to watch out for. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series when it comes out.

Enjoy!!!

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