Review of The Mage in Black

The Mage in Black
Jaye Wells
Orbit Books
326 pages

The Mage in Black is the second of Jaye Wells’ new series starring her intense, complex and surprisingly fresh heroine Sabina Kane.
With paranormal novels inundating the shelves of your local bookstore, library or e-retailer, and the likes of vampires, were-beings and shape-shifters fill the pages of those novels why would you want to choose this particular one. Well that’s what I’m going to tell you.
Sabina a result of a taboo union between a mage and a vampire has been raised in the vampire community of LA under the strict thumb of her paternal grandmother who also happens to run the vampire empire, and a cold task master she is letting Sabina know in no uncertain terms that her only worth is as an assassin for said empire. In this episode of Sabina’s life she’s en route to NYC and the heart of the magedom, to meet her twin sister. Still stinging from her grandmother’s betrayal she joins with a covert-ops mage as they battle their to the Big Apple, where there are prophecies to fulfill.
Jaye has created an alternate society unbeknownst to humans that contain all manner of paranormal beings. Her story line/plot has been perused and pursued to the nth degree, but her audience will find a refreshing discovery, Jaye’s world is exciting, ingeniously different then all the others and of course dangerous. Her champion and heroine Sabina is edgy, tough, foul-mouthed and yet immensely vulnerable in her search for somewhere to belong and something always just beyond her reach. She also skates a thin line between hero and villain which makes her even more appealing. Her supporting characters are equally interesting and as we get to know them the allies as well as the enemies we see how the each fill a pertinent spot in the tale. There are some romantic elements in the story, but the main theme is definitely not romance, it’s more a coming of age and our heroine grows with each installment.
So if you’re the kind of reader who likes to get up close and personal with creatures the main population have nightmares about, if you like edge of your seat action, and tension filled drama, then you come to the right novel. This is fine as a stand-a-lone, but if you want the full Sabina effect I suggest reading Red Headed StepChild and coming next Green Eyed Demon.