Shadow Duel by Brad Magnarella

Beware the shadow of many faces, but fear the master of many places…

Title: Shadow Duel
Author:  Brad Magnarella
Series: Prof Croft #9
Publish Date: April 15 2021
Source: purchased by reviewer

Publisher’s Description:  Beware the shadow of many faces, but fear the master of many places…

It’s Monday morning, and I’ve recovered a strange glyph-covered chest from a landfill. By Monday afternoon, someone’s stolen it from my warded loft.

Before I can suss out who, why, and most importantly, how, I’m neck-deep with the NYPD on a murder case. A bigshot CEO is dead in his penthouse, his kidneys harvested in a way that screams black magic. Only there’s no magic in evidence.

The two crimes connect somehow, and the key may be an old explorer’s club in the heart of Manhattan. But this mage needs to get moving. More victims are turning up sans organs, and twice now I’ve found myself in a shadow realm—a darker, more dangerous version of the city, where a mysterious entity wants me dead.

And here I thought the summer’s biggest chore would be persuading my succubus cat to play nice with my wife.

Spoiler alert: she’s still Tabitha.

Nervous Nellie’s nervousness necessitates knowledge of the novel. In other words …SPOILERS. *BEWARE*

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Nervous Nellie says…

I really love this series.  It’s kind of a police procedural but not.  That’s pretty wishy washy, huh?  Well, you have your intense magic user, you have nasty mythological creatures that terrorize people and murder.  If you have never tried this series and think that sounds boring, let me clue you in.  These books, this one included, are often edge of your seat adventure, murder in mysterious magical circumstances in a world that does know about magic.  I feel the comparison to Indiana Jones would lead to an idea of the content of these books…except Indy never had a consultant gig with the NYPD.

Everson now has a family.  I never thought that Ricki Vega would ever succumb to Everson’s charms, let alone his dangerous and most often very closely lethal magic dealings.  The baby they are expecting is growing and Vega is on desk duty.  She doesn’t like it, but she does manage to get inside this case due to her ability to liaison with the wizard.  She doesn’t really have an active part in this story, but she does have her moments in the spotlight.  It is a complicated relationship that plays out between Detective Hoffmen and Prof Croft.  They HAVE to get along and solve the case.  Ricki can only do so much since she’s not working directly on the case.  It’s a tough partnership between the two men.

So, the case.  Weirdest dang thing – people are getting killed and having certain organs removed without a trace of incision or cause of death.  No why or how.  Just is.  That’s where Everson is brought in.  He has a huge task of solving this riddle that just becomes more dangerous and mysterious as the book weaves it’s story.  It’s surprising Everson doesn’t develop a concussion for as many times as he hits a brick wall leading him to no answers, but he perseveres.  I have got to tell you that I’d never have guessed where leads took him and the places he ended up.  The dangers he put himself into were not just to solve the case, but to stop the destruction to humans of the earth.  This feels like an over-several-books story that doesn’t end at the end of this book.  It’s not a cliffhanger to the murders, so don’t worry about that part. There is, however, a revelation at the very end that was of particular interest.  It’s not a bad revelation – a very “OMG” moment and I cannot wait to see where this leads.

Our reviews in this series…

• Demon Moon by Brad Magnarella
• Blood Deal
• Purge City by Brad Magnarella
• Death Mage
• Black Luck
• Power Game
• Druid Bond
• Night Rune
• Shadow Duel
• Shadow Deep

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