26 | February | 2021

After discovering the Friday Face-off set of covers for Industrial Magic, it reminded me of this lovely series all over again – so I decided to feature a review of one of my favourite Otherworld characters that I posted back in January 2015…

BLURB: It’s the most anticipated reality television event of the season: three spiritualists gathered together in one house to raise the ghost of Marilyn Monroe. For renowned medium Jaime Vegas there’s just one problem. Unlike her colleagues, Jaime is the real deal: and she knows that the house is truly haunted. Not by dead film stars, but by something even stranger and much more disturbing.

A tragic mystery lurks in the maze of gardens behind the house: trapped spirits that only Jaime can hear. As their whispers grow more frantic, Jaime – along with Alpha werewolf Jeremy Danvers – is forced to embark on an investigation into a shocking underworld of black magic and ritual sacrifice.

REVIEW: This popular and trailblazing series, started back in 2001 with Bitten, features women caught up in the paranormal world one way or another. So while Bitten deals with Elena, a young journalist pitchforked into the middle of werewolf society – in No Humans Involved Jaime has to deal with the sudden appearance of ghosts in ‘I see dead people’ moments. Constantly… Fortunately, she does have coping strategies to prevent her going mad – one of them being that she is very well connected with a number of highly placed and powerful otherworldly characters. As this is the seventh book in the series, these characters have generally already appeared along the way. I really enjoy this feature of Armstrong’s writing – it is always a pleasure to get a different take on a protagonist in another story and she is very good at this technique.

It doesn’t hurt that Jaime, though undoubtedly glamorous and good looking, is also aware that the clock is ticking, her waistline isn’t getting any trimmer and the laughter lines are in danger of turning into crowsfeet… In other words, she reflects many of the anxieties women past a certain age can experience on a daily basis. Obviously, the fact she’s a celebrity means those concerns are heightened, but it is still something of a treat to read an urban fantasy romp that doesn’t feature a fit, perky young thing with all her vitality and good looks before her. I also love her self-deprecating humour. Of all Armstrong’s female heroines, Jaime holds a special place in my heart…

So in this murder mystery, does the story hold up around her? Oh yes. Armstrong quickly pulls us to the centre of this disturbing mystery by also giving us chilling slices in the perpetrator’s viewpoint, without revealing her identity– and it was also an enjoyable extra layer to discover that the baddie is also a woman… Meanwhile, Jaime is juggling the needs of the director, coping with professional jealousy from both her co-stars, while also trying to deal with her feelings about Jeremy Danvers, the Alpha werewolf who takes a vacation to meet her. Question is – does he also reciprocate her feelings? And is there really time for any sort of romance when there are trapped ghosts waiting for Jaime to help them?

I gobbled this book up in a couple of sittings when I should have been sleeping, but once I started reading I simply couldn’t stop. The conclusion was suitably dramatic and climactic, with a couple of surprises along the way. Great fun! And if you haven’t yet treated yourself to any of Armstrong’s keynote series – don’t start with this one, get hold of Bitten and feast on an entertaining, thoroughly enjoyable world.
9/10

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring covers with the word MAGIC in the title. I’ve selected Industrial Magic – Book 4 of the Otherworld series by Kelley Armstrong.

This edition was produced by Bantam in October 2004, and is the default cover design for this book. While I like the colour tones and I think the image is quite intriguing, I think the very boring title and author font really lets the design down. It is such a cool title and they could have had a lot of fun playing around with it appearing out of the smoke. That said, I don’t dislike it, I just think a bit more thought could have gone into it.

Published in September 2004 by Orbit, I far prefer this cover. But that might be because it’s the one that I own. I love the slightly grungy reddish background with that heavy-looking metal door, which looks quite ominous – partly because the lighting around it gives the impression there is something powerful and not particularly friendly on the other side of it. This time around, I think that rather official, business-like font works – because it is… industrial. This one is so very nearly my favourite.

This edition, published by Vintage Canada in January 2010, is frankly bizarre. I get that the chequered tights with the chess pieces are supposed to denote that young Paige is a clever strategist (I think!). It’s a while since I read the book, but I don’t recall her playing chess using her legs for a board… I feel these muted colours and the use of red in the title gives this book a horror vibe, which it didn’t have. This is the design I like least – I think it’s gimmicky and misleading.

This edition, produced by Hatchette Digital in September 2008, is my favourite. I love the intense blue that really draws the eye, particularly in thumbnail. The skyscrapers give a good indication of the modern, streamlined world, while those ominous clouds swirling across the top of them give a sense that all is not well. And what a clever touch to have that pop of magic playing across the building and running into the title font! What a shame that Bantam couldn’t have thought of something similar with that original cover… This one is my favourite.

This French edition, published by Bragelonne in August 2009, is an attractive, well-crafted cover. I like that we cannot see the girl’s face, although she is clearly young, which gives a sense of mystery. And I also like the cityscape in the background with the full moon looming in the sky. And that funky, uneven font for the title nicely sets this cover off. While it is a tad generic, I feel some care has gone into it and I particularly love the red dress and the way it diffuses into a cloud of… magical energy? Which is your favourite?