Industrial Magic [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

INDUSTRIAL MAGIC (Women of the Otherworld #4) by Kelley Armstrong

INDUSTRIAL MAGIC is the 4th full-length novel in Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series, and once again, not one of my favorite storylines. I love Kelley Armstrong's books and series, but there were a few in this particular series that I did not enjoy and for some reason those involving Paige and Lucas did not top my list. Perhaps it was the 'lack' of the wolves (including Clay, Elena, Jeremy etc) or the lack of sexual energy surrounding the couple, but if I think back, it is probably the copious amount of background information and the numerous characters involved with each Paige/Lucas/Cabel storyline. I am still recommending Kelley's Women of the Otherworld series, including Industrial Magic, but a couple of the storylines were difficult.

We first met Paige and Lucas in Dime Store Magic (WOTO #3) when Lucas agreed to represent Paige during her custody struggle for Savannah and her banishment from the Witches Coven. Industrial Magic focuses on the Cabel side of the family including Lucas's family and Savannah's extended biological family from her father's side. Cabels are family run, and controlled and aligned with the most powerful sorcerers and to compare these Cabels to the Mafia or Mob, would not be a far stretch. But someone or something is murdering the young Cabal sons and heirs, and as Lucas is his father's reluctant heir, he and Paige are now deeply involved with the investigations.

Several new characters are introduced, as I had said before, but there are a couple that we will see many times in future novels and storylines. Jaime Vegas is a clairvoyant and necromancer, and Eve Levine is part witch/part demon and, Savannah's deceased mother. There are demons, shamans, vampires, wolves, sorcerers, witches and of course, the lowly suffering humans. Quite frankly I thought about pulling out my power point and designing a graph to keep track of the familial connections.

Regrettably, Kelley will be releasing her final full-length novel in the Women of the Otherworld series in July-THIRTEEN. But, on the plus side, Kelley has also said she will be re-releasing some of her short stories and novellas, as well as writing some continuing short storylines to keep her fans happy e.g V Plates -released in May 2012 (narrated by Nick).

see all of my reviews at : thereadingcafe.com

Again, I was very impressed with this novel by the same author who brought us Bitten, Stolen and Dime Store Magic.

The premise of the books is that it's the story of real life Supernaturals, werewolves, vampires, witches, demons, etc... as they live among us today. Bitten was about a werewolf, Stolen introduced witches and other supernaturals and Dime Store Magic & Industrial Magic are about witches but also has a bunch of others.

I'm surprised this book is not more widely read. The story is interesting, the writing is excellent, the plots are great and I certainly got attached to the characters enough that I want to follow their lives some more.

I think if you enjoyed such TV shows as Buffy and Angel, you'll love these books.

Pick it up, you won't regret it.

Another great installment in the Women of the Otherworld series! Industrial Magic, the 4th book in the series is again told by Paige, but rather than focusing on her life and mission to rebuild the coven, Paige is thrown headlong into a Cabal murder case. Although she is wary of working with the Cabals, it gives her an opportunity to work with Lucas and get to know his family while helping out supernatural teens. One small area aside, I found it to be a thrilling adventure, and was stumped by the murder case right up until the killer was revealed.

One of my favourite aspects of Kelley Armstrong's novels is her amazing ability to create a supernatural world that is completely believable within the realm of our everyday lives. And this is the one area where I felt Industrial Magic did not quite live up to Armstrong's usual standards. Without getting too spoilery, there is a portion of the story that involves a portal and I found that it ripped me out of the narrative and interfered with the 'believable world within our own' effect that I have enjoyed so much in the previous novels. But that was only a very small portion of the story, and the rest of it was as great as always.

Something I really loved about Industrial Magic is that we got to spend time with the Stonehaven werewolves as well as Paige and Lucas. I realized while reading these sections of the book that while I've enjoyed Paige's stories, for me the heart of this series are the werewolves. That aside, I really loved the ending to this story and can't wait to find out more about Paige's decision to become a teacher and to discover how she and Lucas will work together.