This is a wonderful beginning to promising Urban Fantasy series. I want to make it clear that this is a UF, not a paranormal romance. This first book in her Portal series is a stepping off point for future books. It spends a lot of time world building. Blair does this in a very clear manner, you don’t feel like information is dumped on you. I think Shadow Path is a must read if you want to understand any future books.Blurb:
Magic and crime. Agatha Christie meets J.R.R. Tolkien in “Shadow Path,” the first book in the new Portals series by author P.L. Blair.
An Ogre murdered with a rune-inscribed sword is just the beginning as Kat Morales, a very human detective on the Corpus Christi, Texas, police force, and her Elf partner Tevis McLeod follow a blood trail that leads to Pixies, necromancy and Magic of the Blackest kind ... to its climax in a stronghold Between worlds, where Tevis must duel spell for spell with a former lover who wants to see her old flame extinguished permanently.
Long ago there was a portal between our world and the “otherworld” or Realms, as its inhabitants call it. All the magical creatures of human myth and legend came from there. I love how Blair included all our favorite mythical creatures, giving a new twist to why and how they became part of our history.
You have everything from the Greek/Roman gods and goddesses to the Celtic elves, pixies, banshees and dwarves along with many more unpleasant magical beings. Wizards from the Realm decided to close the portal to protect humans from Othersiders who wanted to pass themselves off as gods.
It has been 4 years since the portal was opened again, though no one knows why or how. Many creatures came through and are coexisting with humans without incident. Kat Morales is a human detective and has been paired with a very private and good looking Elf named Tavis. I really liked how his character is slowly developed. There is much Kat doesn’t know or understand about him even though they have worked together for a few years. Tavis has the potential to be a powerful practitioner of magic, but turned his back on magic for reasons we discover later on. He has a tendency to downplay his strengths and his importance over in the Realms. There is an air of mystery about him that is very sexy
Some humans have the ability to become practitioners of magic, but they must carry the P-gene. Kat tested negative for it, but there is more to her than we discover in this story. Kat is smart and logical and has the makings of a kick-butt heroine.
While there aren’t any romantic interactions between the two, he is very protective of Kat and there is a subtle attraction between them. I can’t wait to see if it turns into something else over the course of the series.
There is a large cast of well developed secondary characters that I think we will see in future books. Arvandus is a Wizard from the Realms that now works with the FBI helping to eliminate creatures from the Realms that are out to harm humans. He is a good friend and mentor to Tavis. I especially liked Maeve, a Banshee who runs a magic store in town. There is also a Djinn named Achmed, who is bound rather reluctantly to Arvandus, and Gairth, Arvandus’s nephew, a Lovetalker/Wizard. I am not sure what he can do, but he seems to have Cupid like tendencies.
My only complaints are the lack of action through most of the book, but the climatic magical battle at the end is top notch. The other thing is the price. The ecopy is priced higher than most paperback books.
One last thing…have you ever wondered where your cat goes when it disappears for a while? I now know where they go
4 “don’t mess with the Pixies” Sheep
SS (edited by BAK)
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