Magic on the Hunt

Written by Devon Monk

Narrated by Emily Durante

There aren't many girls who can say they've gone into the realm of death and lived to tell the tale. But to restore her lover Zayvion's soul, Allison Beckstrom had to pay a bitter price-and things are about to get worse.

It turns out that the leader of the Authority, the council that decides what can-and can't-be done with magic, is being held hostage. But when the trail leads Allie and Zayvion to the secret prison where the Authority locks away magical criminals who are too dangerous to be held anywhere else, they find more than they bargained for. An undead magic user has possessed one of the prisoners, and he wants his freedom-and then some. Now Allie and Zayvion are the first line of defense against the chaos he's about to unleash on the city of Portland.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 30, 2011
• ISBN: 9781452673028

Reviews for Magic on the Hunt

[emblue-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love the characters in this series. Great writing. Exciting storyline.

[littlechoo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Magic on the Storm has a kick ass ending, but let me start at the beginning. Book 4 is nearly as good as book 3, not quite, but nearly. The continued history of Magic is really fascinating, and the world building still vivid. The on-coming storm keeps the pace moving along quite nicely, although I found it a little anti climatic towards the end, and although I could see the ending coming a mile off, it didn’t dampen my enjoyment of it at all. Not my favourite in the series but not the least either

[thetearose · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Just your typical witty and spunky heroine with a hot, powerful boyfriend. In this book, Allie continues to deal with being possessed by her father and general Hound problems. Add to that an incoming magic storm and a verging war within the Authority. Some old and new characters come back and Allie seems to be getting increasingly more responsibilities. The book ends with a cliffhanger, which is very unsportsmanlike of Monk. All in all, an acceptable addition to urban fantasy with a few new ideas like the lightning rods and memory loss.

[librarycatnip · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think the world building is solid, and appreciated the growth in her relationship with her father. There may be some interesting family commentary to be made if the author continues in this vein. I'm waiting to find out about her mother, I find it odd that she hasn't showed up yet, and given the differences in how magic works for Allie, I am betting that there is something from her mom's side of the genetic pool that causes that.

Monk started dropping fairy tale references late in the book. With Zay in a coma, we are starting to channel Sleeping Beauty hard core. At the end of this novel, Allie is jumping into the world of death to save Zayvion from where he is being kept prisoner. I love gender reversal in fairy tale motifs. It will be exciting to see where this goes.

[mardel_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Number four in the Allie Beckstrom Chronicles - what's not to love? We have a continuation of Zavion and Allie's relationship (thankfully not too mushy), continued friendships with one of my favorite new characters Shamus., and the gargoyle Stone remains in the story. I love the gargoyle - I enjoy his quirks and all the little things that Devon Monk describes him doing. He (She?) is a great addition to the series. Almost makes me wish I had my own magical gargoyle. And Stone is very protective of Allie. Big things happen in the fourth book - Not only does Allie and the Authority have to prepare for and deal with a magical storm (full of wild magic), there is a huge faction rift (between the magic users) that Allie is learning about while she's dealing with still hosting her father's spirit in her brain. Devon inserts just the right amount of squickiness into that story line - it would be so weird feeling your dad's emotions and lust in your own head. Very disconcerting. The continued subplots (the Hounds, dad in the head, pregnant stepmommy, Zayvion, the Authority's division in the ranks) as well as some hints of Allie's past, and the dialogue between the characters (especially Shamus and Zayvion, and Shamus and Allie) are all wonderful parts of great book. Once in a while I read something in the book, that makes me wonder if we're going to find out the Zayvion has really know Allie for a lot longer than she thinks. Sometimes there's a look described between other characters when they're discussing the memory loss, or something in the narrative that just makes me wonder. The cliffhanger ending - Devon Monk is excellent at using this. Definitely have a lot to look forward to in the next book - which, thank goodness, is coming out in November of 2010. That's one of the books that I'm not having any doubts about buying.

[mirkwood-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

These just get better and better, I can't stop. I began with a 5 star review on the first one in the series and have barely done anything but read since. Edge of your seat read this one.

[raselyem7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I think the world building is solid, and appreciated the growth in her relationship with her father. There may be some interesting family commentary to be made if the author continues in this vein. I'm waiting to find out about her mother, I find it odd that she hasn't showed up yet, and given the differences in how magic works for Allie, I am betting that there is something from her mom's side of the genetic pool that causes that.

Monk started dropping fairy tale references late in the book. With Zay in a coma, we are starting to channel Sleeping Beauty hard core. At the end of this novel, Allie is jumping into the world of death to save Zayvion from where he is being kept prisoner. I love gender reversal in fairy tale motifs. It will be exciting to see where this goes.

[mlleehreen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Still having a love and hate relationship with this series. All the Allie Beckstrom novels seem to blur together – it’s the same conflict here that we’ve been dealing with for the past few books. Her psycho dad is still stuck in her head, and she still needs to get him out. Grayson the necromorph is still causing problems. Davy the Hound is still following her around, and Allie still expects him to listen to advice that she’d never take herself. Jingo Jingo is still getting away with all sorts of bad stuff, and the Authority is still a dubious and hard to like institution. Oh, and Allie still doesn’t have a car.

MAGIC ON THE STORM is built on a nice little parallelism. There’s a storm of wild magic headed for Portland, and it’s up to the Authority to make sure that it doesn’t destroy the city. And the war that’s been on the horizon within the Authority is advancing right along with the storm.

Here’s the problem with the war: Allie has no idea what it’s about. You’d think a book about this approaching war would be a good opportunity for Devon Monk to lay out the factions, tell us what’s at stake. For Allie to get the lay of the land and maybe pick a side. But that’s not what happens. At the end of the book, I was pretty sure that members of one faction were more evil than members of the other faction, but that’s about it. I certainly didn’t see enough of a distinction between the two sides to root for either one.

So that’s annoying. Zavion is delicious throughout. Shamus is my new favorite character and we get lots of time with him in MAGIC IN THE STORM, including lots of backstory. There’s some dark twisted stuff in his past, which suits him to a T, but he’s still great comic relief.

I think my biggest problem with the series is Allie. She’s a bit of a damsel in distress. I mean, she thinks she’s lady badass but really, most of the time when the going gets tough she needs saving. I’m glad she’s started training in magic and martial arts, but she’s not far enough along for it to make a difference. All of her enemies outgun her. It bothers me that even though she’s aware of her own weakness, she shrugs and blunders along into dangerous situations anyhow. She seems to think she has a talent for saving the day at the last minute but really she has a habit of relying on other people to pull her fat out of the fire.

I’d like this story to move forward at a faster pace. For some of the old problems to go away and make way for new problems. For Allie to stop being so clueless. But for all that I’m still invested in the characters and eager to find out what happens next.

[coz_6_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good series going strong. Allie's da saves the day more than once and his child is born.

[krau0098 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is the sixth book in the Allie Beckstrom series by Monk. There are at least nine books planned in this series. This was a very enjoyable book in the series, it picks up pretty much right where the last book left off.Allie and Zayvion are recovering from all of the craziness in Book 5, Magic at the Gate. Things are pretty much at an all out low for the series; the Authority is splintered, their leader Sedra captured by Jingo Jingo. Gates are opening up everywhere completely out of control. Right at the beginning of the book Dane shows up and tries to kill Allie and Zayvion; meaning that there is yet another member of the Authority that has gone rogue. Now they need to hunt down Dane, figure out what the shadow Leander is up to and do it all before the powers that be Close the Authority in the city for their incompetence.I would definitely recommend reading previous books before reading this one, there is a lot going on in this series at this point. You can tell though that the main story arc dealing with Leander and Isabella is drawing to a climax in this book.It was wonderful that Allie and Zay get at least a little down time. I also loved the fact that Zay played such a prominent part in this book. We also spend lots of time with Shamus and his Soul Companion, they are some of my favorite characters so I enjoyed that. Allie's dad continues to partially possess her and he always makes stuff interesting. The plot whips forward at a fast pace. There are a lot of things revealed and revelations made in this book that start to draw a lot of little things from previous books together. This book is definitely a must read for fans of the series. I also enjoyed how the power structure outside of the city is explained to the reader; we are finally gaining a better understanding of the world as a whole rather than being stuck with just a city-wide understanding.The book ends well and you can kind of predict what the next book will be about. This is a series that I never find myself absolutely in love with, but I always enjoy reading. It is a solid urban fantasy that is always engaging, but never really blows me away with its creativity.Overall an excellent addition to this series. Allie still isn't my favorite character, but I am finding myself liking her a bit more and I really enjoy the characters surrounding her. This book was pretty much solid urban fantasy; there is a touch of romance here but not a lot. Lots of great action scenes, lots of revelations, and a fast moving plot too. Fans of this series should be pleased. I am not sure when book 7 is due out, I do know that Monk is starting a new series of which the first book Dead Iron, will be out later this year.