Street Magic

Caitlin Kittredge's Street Magic is more than just an urban fantasy fix. Its an edgy, sinister treat. Kittredge has created two unforgettable characters that you will want to revisit again and again, just to peel away their unending layers. Hopelessly flawed, we gravitate towards Jack Winter and Pete Caldecott. Those imperfections speak to us, we relate to them. Kittredge has drawn Jack Winter as a diabolically seductive enigma with a deeply troubled soul. Once Winter was a mage superstar in The Black until he summoned an entity that tore his soul apart and forced him to make some very nasty decisions. Unfortunately he dragged his girlfriends' younger sister and ingénue, Pete along with him. Twelve years have passed since that fateful eve, and the stain of that day still linger on. The soul-deep ties that were forged with spirit, blood and bone in that decrepit cemetery cannot be denied. Jack and Pete must join forces yet again against a deadly entity despite their past, and despite their personal demons. The Black awaits them. Whether they are ready or not. The overwhelming personal conflict between these two is the real draw-as is the selfless pursuit of saving Jack's soul by Pete. Is Jack worth saving? Can he summon the courage within himself to fulfill the destiny at hand? Readers will inevitably dissect and invest themselves in this sole pursuit. Who is the real Jack Winter? How much will he sacrifice to save Pete? Can the crow-mage and his Weir battle this amorphous enemy? And how does the future of The Black rest on their collective shoulders? Kittredge has done her job. She has engaged and thrilled the reader. The realm of The Black as it exists in London and its occupants are enticing. Combined with Jack and Pete's magical exploits it makes for a heady read. Street Magic has an overall sense of a mosh pit at Fivers meshed with The Clash and Poppy Brite's Lost Souls. There are so many juicy bits to gnaw at and savor that I simply don't know where to start. You'll want to suck the marrow clean of Kittredge's story and still lick your chops for more. © Nicola Mattos

Pete Caldecott is an Inspector with Scotland Yard investigating the disappearance of a young girl. Her partner gets a lead on a tip, the informant wanting to meet face to face at a dodgy hotel. She knocks on the door of the room, walks in and comes face to face with a ghost that has been haunting her for twelve years. Jack Winter was larger than life back then but now he is a shade of his former self from heroin. He is less than thrilled to be seeing her again but he wants the girl to be found. Pete was sure he had died that long ago day when he had her help him summon a spirit and things went horribly wrong. Pete recovers the girl but she is an empty husk, drained of her spirit by inhabitants of the world that Jack knows so well. When two more children disappear, Pete seeks Jack out to help her find them and while she is at it find out why he is so put out with her. I highly enjoyed this book. I was quite happily drifting along as the story unfolded; as this Black London slowly revealed some of its secrets. Then about the halfway mark the explosion happened. I was already intrigued by Jack but after the explosion I was more than a little in love with him. I had already pictured him as Billy Idol as he was in the Wedding Singer. Then another character called him an Idol wannabe and I laughed. The characters gelled for me and I couldn't wait to see where the story was going to go. Ms. Kittredge has penned an intricate, fascinating read. She also did her homework on how London smells, how her people talk. She has seamlessly blended the ancient and the modern, the things that go bump in the night with a horrible addiction. I was very pleased that Jack didn't spill why he was so mad at Pete right away. There were no easy solutions to the very real obstacles facing Jack and Pete; between themselves and with Black London. This book cements Ms. Kittredge on my list of must buys! I will be waiting anxiously for Demon Bound coming in December. Originally reviewed at Night Owl Romance

I really enjoyed this book, so much so I was not able to put it down until I was through the whole thing. I really enjoyed the banter between the two main characters, Pete & Jack. They really have one heck of a love/hate relationship. The British slang was a great touch as well. It took me a little bit to get what they ment, but when I caught on to the meanings I absolutely loved it. I got such a kick out of the slang even when it was in anger. There where a few moments I got slightly confused with the flashes to the dreams that Pete was having then to reality. It took me a moment to catch on to what was going on, then to switch my thinking. But, it didn't take me long as I went through the book to catch on and know what to look for, and in learning the authors writting style it became easier for me to pick the dreams out. I really liked Jack's character more from the beginning. To me there seemed to be more layers to him than appeared to the others in the story. To me I thought he out shined Pete through most of the book, but by the end of the book Pete had taken her place right up there by/with Jack. In the end of the book I realized how much Pete had grown as a character through the book, and loved her for it. Jack's character grew as well but not by the leaps and bounds that Pete did. I know there is a short story of Jack in the book Huntress, which hold a few short stories by four different authors. I have this book on my shelf in my to be read pile. But, the second book in the Black London Novel series is Demon Bound. Based on the preview at the back of the book, Street Magic, it looks as it is to be released December 2009. I will be watching the shelves for this on in December.

I'm a big fan of Caitlin Kittredge and her Nocturne City series, so I had high hopes for her new character, Pete. I totally enjoyed Street Magic, Pete, Jack and the whole dark, gritty Black London. I also liked the difference in character between Pete Caldecott and Luna Wilder. Luna, a werewolf, has first hand knowledge of things that go bump in the night; whereas Pete doesn't. I think that made a big difference between their characters. I do like what they have in common: strong female characters and in law enforcement. I think Kittredge did a great job setting her new series and characters in London and with the way they speak, although it did take me a while to catch on with certain terms, for example,"fag" meaning cigarette. But it got easier as I kept reading. I like how Jack wasn't this perfect hero type - the good-looking-hardly-speaks-but-appears-at-the-right-time-to-save-the-day kind of character. After the botched up ritual when Pete was sixteen, we find Jack a junkie who uses drugs to keep the spirits at bay. He's sarcastic but witty and (I think) funny as hell. I look forward to reading more about Pete, Jack and Black London. Kittredge even gives fans a little look at the next Black London novel.

In London, sixteen year old Pete Caldecott met handsome mage Jack Winter. The punk rocker showed off his magical skills trying to impress the teen. However, Pete witnessed more than she wanted to see when a spirit he summoned killed Jack. Over time Pete assumed Jack used an illusion to fool her as magic is not physics since it does not exist. A dozen years layer Detective Inspector Pete receives a tip about a kidnapped girl Bridget. The tip proves reliable, but the informant shocks the DI to her DNA core; somehow Jack is back or at least a heroin addicted version of him. He insists there is a parallel realm the Black. With several more abductions of children, Jack convinces Pete to cross over to fight against an evil kidnapper with paranormal power. She agrees to travel to the shadow realm and learn how to use spells if he detoxes Leaving Nocturne City for now, Caitlin Kittredge proves she has STREET MAGIC with the super first Black London urban fantasy. Inspector Pete is a terrific center of gravity as a police detective who holds the eerie exciting story line together, but it is the dark gritty streets of London that she works enhanced by shadowy Jack that owns the tale. A sort of cross between Simon Green's Nightside and Jim Butcher's Dresden, sub-genre fans will appreciate Ms. Kittredge's view of a gloomy paranormal London. Harriet Klausner