Review: The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay

Title: The Better Part of Darkness
Author: Kelly Gay
Publisher:  Pocket
Release Date:  11/24/2009
Number of pages: 416

ISBN-10: 1439109656
ISBN-13: 9781439109656

 
 
 
 




From the Publisher's website:
 
Atlanta: it's the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....
 
Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim -- but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

My thoughts:

The Better Part of Darkness was a fantastic start to a new Urban Fantasy series. There was intense action, fascinating characters and even a little romance. Charlie Madigan is a kick ass heroine and a single mom. Super cool combo if you ask me! I am also utterly smitten with her partner Hank who happens to be a drop dead gorgeous Siren.

Kelly Gay managed to construct a complex and interesting setting that didn’t leave me feeling overwhelmed or confused. Once I discovered this was her debut novel I was even more impressed. Book two in the Charlie Madigan series is titled The Darkest Part of Dawn and scheduled to be released in August. It will definitely be going on my list of must reads that are releasing in 2010.

Check out Kelly Gay's blog here.