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Peter Warlock #1
Dark Magic
Peter Warlock is a magician with a dark secret. Every night, he amazes audiences at his private theater in New York, where he performs feats that boggle the imagination. But his day job is just a cover for his otherworldly pursuits: Peter is a member of an underground group of psychics who gaze into the future to help prevent crimes. No one, not even his live-in girlfriend, knows the truth about Peter—until the séance when he foresees an unspeakable act of violence that will devastate the city. As Peter and his friends rush to prevent tragedy, Peter discovers that a shadowy cult of evil psychics, the Order of Astrum, know all about his abilities. They are hunting him and his fellow psychics down, one by one, determined to silence them forever.
Dark Magic is a genre-bending supernatural thriller from national bestselling novelist and real-life magician James Swain.
Dark Magic is a genre-bending supernatural thriller from national bestselling novelist and real-life magician James Swain.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 22, 2012
29 people are currently reading
669 people want to read
About the author
James Swain
49 books352 followersJames Swain is the national best selling author of seventeen mystery novels, and has been published in twelve different languages. His books have been chosen as Mysteries of the Year by Publisher’s Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and have received three Barry Award nominations, a Florida Book Award for Fiction, and France’s prestigious Prix Calibre .38 for Best American Crime Fiction. Born in Huntington, New York, he graduated from New York University and worked as a magazine editor before moving to Florida to run a successful advertising firm. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys researching casino scams and cons, a subject on which he’s considered an expert.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
July 13, 2012
This book was boring and poorly written. There was never any real threat to the protagonist, if he needed to so something he always had some sort of power, or a friend that did. Need to find a file? Computer hacking friend... need to find a person, witch with the power to do so. He also had the amazing ability to jump to correct conclusions with little or no effort.
There was also the girl friend. She leaves him about every four pages, comes back, and leaves again. Peter(our protagonist), is dealing with trying to solve who is planning an attack on NYC, and she is worried about relationship issues. At one point, when the attack he sees from the seance is almost happening(about an hours away), she calls him to talk about their relationship. When he tells her he cannot talk at the moment she gets mad at him and hangs up. The fact that he entertains her ridiculous behavior, makes him even more ridiculous.
I found myself rolling my eyes and closing the book from disbelieve numerous times while reading. The plot was so cliche. The bad guys were dull. The characters were flat. All the things that were going on with Peter(about his parents, his "genetics", etc) were not really something that interests me. I think it could have been left out, and would not have really mattered.
Disappointing book.
There was also the girl friend. She leaves him about every four pages, comes back, and leaves again. Peter(our protagonist), is dealing with trying to solve who is planning an attack on NYC, and she is worried about relationship issues. At one point, when the attack he sees from the seance is almost happening(about an hours away), she calls him to talk about their relationship. When he tells her he cannot talk at the moment she gets mad at him and hangs up. The fact that he entertains her ridiculous behavior, makes him even more ridiculous.
I found myself rolling my eyes and closing the book from disbelieve numerous times while reading. The plot was so cliche. The bad guys were dull. The characters were flat. All the things that were going on with Peter(about his parents, his "genetics", etc) were not really something that interests me. I think it could have been left out, and would not have really mattered.
Disappointing book.
May 18, 2012
I made it through a little over 50% of this book but couldn't force myself to keep reading. The main protagonist is Peter Warlock and he's a twenty something whose parents were murdered when he was a young child. He was raised by several of his parent's magical friends who he still meets with once a week for séances. At the most recent meeting he'd seen an evil guy destroying Times Square. I suppose as a paranormal premise that's as good as any other but so many of the plot points are derivative of other popular writers. When the writer takes us to Ireland and an evil Middle Eastern leader is asked to murder a woman in cold blood to get jumped into the evil coven I hit a wall of disgust. What offended me most was Swain's horrible prose. (I know! I’m that shallow.) Maybe "Dark Magic" will appeal to teenagers though I hate thinking of them wasting their time with it.
November 19, 2014
I would have liked this much more without G/F Eliza, she ruined this book for me with her you aren't being honest with me Peter, I am leaving for the 4th time in the last 1/2 of this book. I rolled my eyes right out of my head. It was too much and detracted from the book. I didn't care for how that part was handled...really. Be proud of who you are Peter, Warlock or Demon, someone out there will love you just for you...honest!!! :-) I do have the next book in the series to read and am ok with that.
July 2, 2017
rating 3.5 Dark Magic, an urban fantasy by bestselling author James Swain delves into the world of secret psychic societies, witches, demons and Satan himself. While not without flaws, Swain’s tale was captivating as his protagonist and a team of psychics race to save New York City from a deadly attack. I easily consumed this enjoyable read in a few evenings.
Protagonist Peter Warlock is a talented and successful magician with a loving girlfriend but he has secrets. Peter is able to communicate with spirits. He is a member of a secret society that performs séances to contact the spirit world. Here they receive visions of things yet to come. They secretly feed this information to the FBI and police. Recently, the CIA discovered one of their members and they are holding him at an undisclosed location in Virginia. All of the members are leery of being discovered and meeting the same fate. It’s Friday night and Peter has a vision; he sees a man in the middle of the city, people are dying all around him and the scene is horrific. Together the team pieces together clues from the vision. They soon realize the attack will occur on Tuesday. Peter wants to go to the police, but the rest of the team are fearful of being discovered. As their undeclared leader it is up to Peter to determine what to do. The tale that unfolds is filled with suspense and murder as Peter and the others work together to stop the attack. An assassin is sent by the Order of Astrum to stop them from preventing the attack. Peter will soon discover he can do more than talk to spirits.
Swain introduces us to some interesting characters. Peter is complex, can speak to ghosts and has a dark side that people fear. He struggles with events from his past and hasn’t shared his abilities with anyone including his live in lover Liza. Liza seemed very self-centered and at times I wanted to wring her neck. Peter struggles with containing his rage as new abilities emerge and he questions whether he is evil. He learns things about his parents and begins searching for more answers. Holly is a witch, who is babied by the group and resents it. She is in love with Peter and pushes back when he annoys her. Her skills come in handy as the novel progresses. Milly and Max raised Peter and harbor secrets about his past. Wolfe is the assassin hired by the Order and ruthlessly performs the task. Other characters added to the suspense. The characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked. The focus was given to the events in this plot driven novel.
The world-building was suspenseful and I loved the idea of the psychic séances and the evil Order of Astrum. I found the history of Peter’s abilities fascinating. Swain takes great liberty when referencing witches and warlocks. In his world they believe in Satan. This surprised me, as most writers add their own twists, but usually sticks with facts; to add an air of authenticity to their work. The flawed descriptions of FBI, and police procedure made me pause, but again it was a minor blip and I was able to continue. As pure fiction it was entertaining, and reminded me of some famous conspiracy novels. The beginning of the novel drew me in, the middle filled in details and the ending was engaging as we worked to stop the tragedy.
I recommend Dark Magic to fans of paranormal suspense and conspiracies. This was an entertaining, suspenseful read and I enjoyed putting the pieces together. James Swain has published over fourteen mystery novels in countries all over the world and I look forward to reading more of his work.
I want to thank Tor/Forge Publishing for providing this finished copy in exchange for my unbiased review.
Protagonist Peter Warlock is a talented and successful magician with a loving girlfriend but he has secrets. Peter is able to communicate with spirits. He is a member of a secret society that performs séances to contact the spirit world. Here they receive visions of things yet to come. They secretly feed this information to the FBI and police. Recently, the CIA discovered one of their members and they are holding him at an undisclosed location in Virginia. All of the members are leery of being discovered and meeting the same fate. It’s Friday night and Peter has a vision; he sees a man in the middle of the city, people are dying all around him and the scene is horrific. Together the team pieces together clues from the vision. They soon realize the attack will occur on Tuesday. Peter wants to go to the police, but the rest of the team are fearful of being discovered. As their undeclared leader it is up to Peter to determine what to do. The tale that unfolds is filled with suspense and murder as Peter and the others work together to stop the attack. An assassin is sent by the Order of Astrum to stop them from preventing the attack. Peter will soon discover he can do more than talk to spirits.
Swain introduces us to some interesting characters. Peter is complex, can speak to ghosts and has a dark side that people fear. He struggles with events from his past and hasn’t shared his abilities with anyone including his live in lover Liza. Liza seemed very self-centered and at times I wanted to wring her neck. Peter struggles with containing his rage as new abilities emerge and he questions whether he is evil. He learns things about his parents and begins searching for more answers. Holly is a witch, who is babied by the group and resents it. She is in love with Peter and pushes back when he annoys her. Her skills come in handy as the novel progresses. Milly and Max raised Peter and harbor secrets about his past. Wolfe is the assassin hired by the Order and ruthlessly performs the task. Other characters added to the suspense. The characters were not as fleshed out as I would have liked. The focus was given to the events in this plot driven novel.
The world-building was suspenseful and I loved the idea of the psychic séances and the evil Order of Astrum. I found the history of Peter’s abilities fascinating. Swain takes great liberty when referencing witches and warlocks. In his world they believe in Satan. This surprised me, as most writers add their own twists, but usually sticks with facts; to add an air of authenticity to their work. The flawed descriptions of FBI, and police procedure made me pause, but again it was a minor blip and I was able to continue. As pure fiction it was entertaining, and reminded me of some famous conspiracy novels. The beginning of the novel drew me in, the middle filled in details and the ending was engaging as we worked to stop the tragedy.
I recommend Dark Magic to fans of paranormal suspense and conspiracies. This was an entertaining, suspenseful read and I enjoyed putting the pieces together. James Swain has published over fourteen mystery novels in countries all over the world and I look forward to reading more of his work.
I want to thank Tor/Forge Publishing for providing this finished copy in exchange for my unbiased review.
May 22, 2012
Originally posted at Reading Reality
Dark Magic by James Swain is one of those books that grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Take one part Batman, one part A Discovery of Witches, one part Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and one part The Prestige, mix well, and what you have is one hell of a story. I almost forgot, add in a touch of either the X-Files or Men in Black, just for flavor.
Peter Warlock is the leader of the Friday Night Psychics. Who are the Friday Night Psychics? Just what they sound like, a group of psychics who get together every Friday night. Except that these aren't charlatans, these are the real deal. Peter and his friends all have power, real power, of one kind or another.
They get together every Friday night to connect with the spirit world, to find out if there is anything bad going to happen. Well, anything big and bad. They live in New York City, after all. Something small and bad is always happening. The Friday Night Psychics are trying to prevent major catastrophes.
So when Peter foresees some kind of epic catastrophe radiating out from Times Square only four days in the future, they all start working on how to alert the police. They've always sent in anonymous tips before, but this is too big and too imminent for an anonymous phone call.
And they all know what will happen if they reveal themselves. They've already lost a friend that way. They're not afraid that no one will believe them. The government will believe them. The CIA took their friend Nemo somewhere they could pump him for predictions--indefinitely.
But before they can figure out a way to alert the police, the evil forces send an assassin after Peter. Live, on stage, in the middle of his magic act.
Peter Warlock covers his real psychic powers by making his living as a stage magician. He pretends to read minds by really reading minds. He's hidden his talents in plain sight his entire life.
The attack alerts the police and the FBI. It also blows the covers off Peter's tortured past. The FBI agent who comes to interview Peter in the wake of the attack is the same agent who interviewed him when he was a child, after his parents were thrown into a car in front of his eyes and driven to their deaths.
Peter's attacker and his parent's murderers are members of the same society of dark magic mercenaries, the Order of Astrum. And now the Order is after Peter and his friends.
The police were already hunting for Peter's would-be assassin. Every city that Jeremy Wolfe has visited has suffered from a series of murders of well-respected psychics, followed by an act of terrorism. Peter knows that his friends and his city are next. What he does not understand is how the deaths of his parents might be linked to this Order of Astrum.
The discovery of his parents' true history threatens his identity, and his life. Peter finds that his friends have been keeping terrible secrets, secrets that he must unravel in order to find the truth about himself and his destiny. But once he learns all, he then must answer the eternal questions about the nature of good and evil. Will his ends justify his means? And will he always be able to choose good when there is evil in his soul?
Escape Rating A: Dark Magic is the kind of story for which the term "dark fantasy" was invented. Peter Warlock is such an intense character. He does remind me a lot of Batman, I mean Bruce Wayne. He watched his parents die, and he grows up tortured by their deaths. He creates this image of them as being so good, only to discover that they weren't the people he thought they were.
The suspense factor was also very well done. There's the part of trying to get one step ahead of the assassin, as he targets the psychics and then there's the second part, just trying to find out what the heck the real target is. Very techno-thrillerish and very cool.
If there turn out to be more books in this universe I will be a very happy reader.
Dark Magic by James Swain is one of those books that grabbed me and wouldn't let go. Take one part Batman, one part A Discovery of Witches, one part Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and one part The Prestige, mix well, and what you have is one hell of a story. I almost forgot, add in a touch of either the X-Files or Men in Black, just for flavor.
Peter Warlock is the leader of the Friday Night Psychics. Who are the Friday Night Psychics? Just what they sound like, a group of psychics who get together every Friday night. Except that these aren't charlatans, these are the real deal. Peter and his friends all have power, real power, of one kind or another.
They get together every Friday night to connect with the spirit world, to find out if there is anything bad going to happen. Well, anything big and bad. They live in New York City, after all. Something small and bad is always happening. The Friday Night Psychics are trying to prevent major catastrophes.
So when Peter foresees some kind of epic catastrophe radiating out from Times Square only four days in the future, they all start working on how to alert the police. They've always sent in anonymous tips before, but this is too big and too imminent for an anonymous phone call.
And they all know what will happen if they reveal themselves. They've already lost a friend that way. They're not afraid that no one will believe them. The government will believe them. The CIA took their friend Nemo somewhere they could pump him for predictions--indefinitely.
But before they can figure out a way to alert the police, the evil forces send an assassin after Peter. Live, on stage, in the middle of his magic act.
Peter Warlock covers his real psychic powers by making his living as a stage magician. He pretends to read minds by really reading minds. He's hidden his talents in plain sight his entire life.
The attack alerts the police and the FBI. It also blows the covers off Peter's tortured past. The FBI agent who comes to interview Peter in the wake of the attack is the same agent who interviewed him when he was a child, after his parents were thrown into a car in front of his eyes and driven to their deaths.
Peter's attacker and his parent's murderers are members of the same society of dark magic mercenaries, the Order of Astrum. And now the Order is after Peter and his friends.
The police were already hunting for Peter's would-be assassin. Every city that Jeremy Wolfe has visited has suffered from a series of murders of well-respected psychics, followed by an act of terrorism. Peter knows that his friends and his city are next. What he does not understand is how the deaths of his parents might be linked to this Order of Astrum.
The discovery of his parents' true history threatens his identity, and his life. Peter finds that his friends have been keeping terrible secrets, secrets that he must unravel in order to find the truth about himself and his destiny. But once he learns all, he then must answer the eternal questions about the nature of good and evil. Will his ends justify his means? And will he always be able to choose good when there is evil in his soul?
Escape Rating A: Dark Magic is the kind of story for which the term "dark fantasy" was invented. Peter Warlock is such an intense character. He does remind me a lot of Batman, I mean Bruce Wayne. He watched his parents die, and he grows up tortured by their deaths. He creates this image of them as being so good, only to discover that they weren't the people he thought they were.
The suspense factor was also very well done. There's the part of trying to get one step ahead of the assassin, as he targets the psychics and then there's the second part, just trying to find out what the heck the real target is. Very techno-thrillerish and very cool.
If there turn out to be more books in this universe I will be a very happy reader.
July 12, 2012
One star. That's it. Almost no stars. I almost couldn't finish this book. It's hard to believe that James Swain is a "bestselling author."
Dark Magic had every cliche ever known to man when it comes to psychics. Ouija boards, deals with the devil, astral projection (does anyone really talk about that any more...so seventies!), magic potions, seances...
The characters in the book were far from "compelling" (from Michael Connelly's review), in fact they were about as shallow as they come, especially the female characters. If I had been a woman reading this, I'm pretty sure I would have been offended by his portrayal of the two main female characters. The dialogue is stiff and uninteresting, and at times, downright silly.
Oh, and there were at least two uses of "must of," rather than "must have," the last one occurring on page 351 when the limo driver said, "I must of dozed off." REALLY??
If you want to read something about a guy with supernatural powers who helps the police solve crimes, I suggest Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Stay away from this one.
Dark Magic had every cliche ever known to man when it comes to psychics. Ouija boards, deals with the devil, astral projection (does anyone really talk about that any more...so seventies!), magic potions, seances...
The characters in the book were far from "compelling" (from Michael Connelly's review), in fact they were about as shallow as they come, especially the female characters. If I had been a woman reading this, I'm pretty sure I would have been offended by his portrayal of the two main female characters. The dialogue is stiff and uninteresting, and at times, downright silly.
Oh, and there were at least two uses of "must of," rather than "must have," the last one occurring on page 351 when the limo driver said, "I must of dozed off." REALLY??
If you want to read something about a guy with supernatural powers who helps the police solve crimes, I suggest Jim Butcher's Dresden Files. Stay away from this one.
July 31, 2015
2* Reading: I have enjoyed some strong, gripping novels lately. Alas, although I am a sucker for the subject material, this doesn't appear that it will be another one. Immediately it occurs to me that the girlfriend wants a good throttling. She is a flimsy character at best. The whole thing seems lame. I'm in a patient mood today and I'll see how it goes. ...
Okay, I did finish it, and "it was ok." The writing is not inspirational nr strong, the dialogue is not believable, and a number of other things bothered me. Yet, I did finish it which I don't always do. But I won't be reading it again.
Okay, I did finish it, and "it was ok." The writing is not inspirational nr strong, the dialogue is not believable, and a number of other things bothered me. Yet, I did finish it which I don't always do. But I won't be reading it again.
April 4, 2013
Ohhhhh this book annoyned me!
It was predictable and every character had such a freaking attitude.
Especially the women in Peter's life. "Oh Peter I love you soooo much but how dare you try to save thousands of lives instead of eat the bagels I toasted for you..Im going to leave...come back and leave again!"
The ONLY part that redeemed anypart of this book for me was when Peter referenced the junior mint incident from seinfeld. Yup.
It was predictable and every character had such a freaking attitude.
Especially the women in Peter's life. "Oh Peter I love you soooo much but how dare you try to save thousands of lives instead of eat the bagels I toasted for you..Im going to leave...come back and leave again!"
The ONLY part that redeemed anypart of this book for me was when Peter referenced the junior mint incident from seinfeld. Yup.
July 7, 2012
Swain's other two series are excellent, but his first foray into urban fantasy is not. Peter Warlock is a magician, who psychic friends are under attack from an assasin hired by a secret society. Peter finds out that hsi parents belonged to the same society before escaping to NY and then being tracked down and killed. While there was plenty of action, I thought it fell a little flat.
March 27, 2020
really enjoyed this book! it was fast paced and intriguing and refreshing! cant wait to read the next novel!
only thing I didn't like was Peter's annoying girlfriend lol. Liza was annoying af!
only thing I didn't like was Peter's annoying girlfriend lol. Liza was annoying af!
June 19, 2012
Meh. Done now, but I really skimmed the last part of the book. I expected more from Tor. Really. To wit:
(1) The writing was very thin and flat. Not sure how else to describe it. It was boring.
(2) If you were a psychic and saw a massive killing about to occur in 4 days would you (a) immediately alert the authorities even though you might risk your own freedom, (b) alert the authorities anonymously as you had been doing previously and hope they paid attention, or (c) go home to think about it, go to sleep and then go to work the next day because, you know, it is a whole 4 days until hundreds of people are killed so you have time? Guess which action Peter, the main character, chose.... Yep, (c).
(3) The dialogue was often not believable--conversations were unusually brief and characters, when told something shocking or surprising, often just went "oh well" instead of asking the questions one normally would. Like "what happened?", "is she alright?" etc.
(4) The main character's girlfriend acted like a spoiled brat, and I was unclear if the reader as supposed to sympathize with her or hate her.
(5) Although there was a bit of a twist about 75% of the way in, there was no real suspense other than that; the main character developed super-speshul new powers early on made it simple for him to defeat the main antagonist and threat to his safety. He never seemed to be in any danger.
(6) Finally, whoever copy-edited this for Tor should be fired. The rampant comma mis-use was surprising, then funny, then just pissed me off. And I'm talking about a very basic punctuation rule that has not changed since I learned it in grade school.
(1) The writing was very thin and flat. Not sure how else to describe it. It was boring.
(2) If you were a psychic and saw a massive killing about to occur in 4 days would you (a) immediately alert the authorities even though you might risk your own freedom, (b) alert the authorities anonymously as you had been doing previously and hope they paid attention, or (c) go home to think about it, go to sleep and then go to work the next day because, you know, it is a whole 4 days until hundreds of people are killed so you have time? Guess which action Peter, the main character, chose.... Yep, (c).
(3) The dialogue was often not believable--conversations were unusually brief and characters, when told something shocking or surprising, often just went "oh well" instead of asking the questions one normally would. Like "what happened?", "is she alright?" etc.
(4) The main character's girlfriend acted like a spoiled brat, and I was unclear if the reader as supposed to sympathize with her or hate her.
(5) Although there was a bit of a twist about 75% of the way in, there was no real suspense other than that; the main character developed super-speshul new powers early on made it simple for him to defeat the main antagonist and threat to his safety. He never seemed to be in any danger.
(6) Finally, whoever copy-edited this for Tor should be fired. The rampant comma mis-use was surprising, then funny, then just pissed me off. And I'm talking about a very basic punctuation rule that has not changed since I learned it in grade school.
April 10, 2012
Peter was a little too "perfect" to be believable: rich, attractive, "humble", and capable of doing real magic. He was the very definition of a Larry Stu who was never exactly challenged or put into danger. His relationship with Liza is unsatisfactory and she waffles from being unreasonably melodramatic to overly fawning over how amazingly wonderful Peter is. Since we know what the Big Danger is from the beginning of the book thanks to Peter's psychic abilities, we never really get a natural building up of suspense, instead Swain tries to get us to jump through hoops to get there, which just exhausted the plot. The writing was mediocre at best, with far too much character development coming from the omnipotent narrator rather than the characters themselves. Swain comes from the camp of tell-your-audience-everything rather than show-them-this-scene-and-allow-them-to-infer-some-information. Overall I was not particularly impressed, and while I can see it was trying to bridge the gap between the paranormal crowd and the thriller loving crowd, I don't think either will find the things they love about those genres in large enough doses to please them.
April 17, 2012
I am giving this three stars, but it really deserves two and a half. it's a fast paced thriller with a few likable characters, but you never get really "close" to any of them....also, anyone familiar with paganism will be off put with just how off base the subject is treated. Witches do NOT believe in the devil, who is a creation of Judaism. the name Lucifer was stolen from the ancient romans...he was the god of light and air and his likeness was besmirched after the Romans invaded Jerusalem. But this book might appeal to the average layman or someone who wants a light read. The ending was a bit ridiculous though...doesn't making Peter's friends have amnesia about the events create moer duplicity, which is what he's trying to avoid? Also, a woman like Holly would never concede so easily the man she loves. I think Mr Swain doesn't know the female pysche so well. Mildly entertaining, but not too deep. A male beach read, perhaps?
August 6, 2014
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot and this interpretation of the warlock character type, but was disappointed in the character depth of the females in the story. I understand that they aren't the main players, but it seemed like they only had two settings - angry/hurt or middle of the road normal. It ultimately made a lot of their conversations with main character Peter seem very flat to me and ultimately distracting.
September 22, 2013
Kind of a good idea but SO badly written.
March 14, 2019
Diving into this was wonderful, and I'm disappointed it isn't loved more by others.
June 18, 2017
Boy, am I glad this book is over...
I bought the audiobook version of Dark Magic because of the actor reading it- Stephen Thorne, who's reading of John Dies at the End is my favourite book.
Unfortunately James Swain's story was a letdown at almost every turn.
The setting is interesting- a society of mediums and magicians conduct seances to regularly and anonymously tip off the police about crimes and catastrophes about to happen. The main character Peter is a professional magician of great renown, a future Houdini in the making; he's also an orphan who inherited some strange powers from his murdered parents with a strange past.
The book itself just can't seem to get its pacing, stretches for enormous lengths of time dealing with Peter's relationships, repeating the same beats, thoughts and conversations time after time.
The conflicts between friends and lovers are unconvincing when put in contrast to the life-and-death situations they find themselves in.
The action is imaginative and makes use of the medums' vatious powers, but the conflicts rarely create any real obstacles, since the main protagonist is very overpowered, always seeming to have a trick, mind technique, strange power, knowledge or a skilled associate to do just about anything. This makes the book boring after a while and it stretches for hours.
James Swain's Dark Magic could be compared to the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, but the latter delivers on magic, action, detective plots and strong character development much better and I'd recommend it over Dark Magic anytime. It's also wonderfully read by James Marsters.
Finally: I guess Dark Magic could hit the spot if you're starved for a light urban fantasy mystery novel, but I just couldn't get to like it. I got the audiobook version, so there's a possibility that Stephen Thorne didn't "click" with it and it the pacing could be better when read in paper form.
I did not enjoy it, but all in all, the setting deservers an additional star for me.
I bought the audiobook version of Dark Magic because of the actor reading it- Stephen Thorne, who's reading of John Dies at the End is my favourite book.
Unfortunately James Swain's story was a letdown at almost every turn.
The setting is interesting- a society of mediums and magicians conduct seances to regularly and anonymously tip off the police about crimes and catastrophes about to happen. The main character Peter is a professional magician of great renown, a future Houdini in the making; he's also an orphan who inherited some strange powers from his murdered parents with a strange past.
The book itself just can't seem to get its pacing, stretches for enormous lengths of time dealing with Peter's relationships, repeating the same beats, thoughts and conversations time after time.
The conflicts between friends and lovers are unconvincing when put in contrast to the life-and-death situations they find themselves in.
The action is imaginative and makes use of the medums' vatious powers, but the conflicts rarely create any real obstacles, since the main protagonist is very overpowered, always seeming to have a trick, mind technique, strange power, knowledge or a skilled associate to do just about anything. This makes the book boring after a while and it stretches for hours.
James Swain's Dark Magic could be compared to the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, but the latter delivers on magic, action, detective plots and strong character development much better and I'd recommend it over Dark Magic anytime. It's also wonderfully read by James Marsters.
Finally: I guess Dark Magic could hit the spot if you're starved for a light urban fantasy mystery novel, but I just couldn't get to like it. I got the audiobook version, so there's a possibility that Stephen Thorne didn't "click" with it and it the pacing could be better when read in paper form.
I did not enjoy it, but all in all, the setting deservers an additional star for me.
October 19, 2022
"Visiting the spirit world was never easy. The other side was a shifting landscape of light and dark, where time moved forward and backward, and often stood still." p.15
Während einer Séance sieht Peter tausende sterbende Menschen am Times Square sowie einen mysteriösen Mann, der vom Tod nicht betroffen ist. Mit seinen Freunden versucht er herauszufinden, wer der Typ aus seiner Vorhersage ist und ob es eine Möglichkeit gibt, diesen zu stoppen. Dabei wird er mit seiner grausamen Kindheit konfrontiert.
Geister, Hexen, Magier, eine todbringende Sekte und der Teufel höchstpersönlich!? Das klingt doch nach dem perfekten Buch für die Halloween Saison - und das ist es auch. Zu den mystischen Begebenheiten und Charakteren kommt die Spannung zur Lösung des Rätsels hinzu und die Frage, ob die geschriebene Zukunft verändert werden kann. Die handelnden Personen fand ich super, nur das Ende hatte ich mir seit dem ersten Drittel des Buches etwas anders vorgestellt. Zum Schluss geschah dann alles ziemlich schnell, dafür, dass das ganze Buch auf den Supergau hingearbeitet hat. Trotzdem hatte ich viel Freude beim Lesen und kann es klar weiterempfehlen.
Während einer Séance sieht Peter tausende sterbende Menschen am Times Square sowie einen mysteriösen Mann, der vom Tod nicht betroffen ist. Mit seinen Freunden versucht er herauszufinden, wer der Typ aus seiner Vorhersage ist und ob es eine Möglichkeit gibt, diesen zu stoppen. Dabei wird er mit seiner grausamen Kindheit konfrontiert.
Geister, Hexen, Magier, eine todbringende Sekte und der Teufel höchstpersönlich!? Das klingt doch nach dem perfekten Buch für die Halloween Saison - und das ist es auch. Zu den mystischen Begebenheiten und Charakteren kommt die Spannung zur Lösung des Rätsels hinzu und die Frage, ob die geschriebene Zukunft verändert werden kann. Die handelnden Personen fand ich super, nur das Ende hatte ich mir seit dem ersten Drittel des Buches etwas anders vorgestellt. Zum Schluss geschah dann alles ziemlich schnell, dafür, dass das ganze Buch auf den Supergau hingearbeitet hat. Trotzdem hatte ich viel Freude beim Lesen und kann es klar weiterempfehlen.
July 23, 2018
When the story begins with a group of psychics visiting the spirit world, seeing a tragic event and the evil behind it, it's clear this will not be a very realistic mystery story. But that's fine, it's supposed to be a fantasy mystery, so just relax and let the story unfold. And it did, for most of the book. You new the bad guy, you knew the good guy and his attempts to stop the bad guy. And the plot unfolded bit of the hero's background, and the backgrounds of his fellow psychics, so you got to understand a bit why he was doing things the way he was.
But then the author commits what I consider the ultimate sin in a mystery. He introduces a new character to the story, very near the end, who is the real bad guy who is to commit the tragic event forseen at the beginning of the novel. That's too easy and it's not fair to the reader.
Can't recommend this one.
But then the author commits what I consider the ultimate sin in a mystery. He introduces a new character to the story, very near the end, who is the real bad guy who is to commit the tragic event forseen at the beginning of the novel. That's too easy and it's not fair to the reader.
Can't recommend this one.
April 20, 2020
Really could have used a good editor. The writing was not great, and there were a lot of other issues that should have been cleaned up before publication. For instance, at the beginning we are introduced to an FBI agent who has a bit of a history with the protagonist, so there's some groundwork laid there for more of a (working) relationship, but suddenly the protag is working with her partner and we never ever hear from or about her again. There were people wearing sidearms strapped to their sides, and shoulder bags over their shoulders. I also got really sick of the girlfriend and her "how dare you keep secrets from me. I'm leaving. Oh, you had a good reason? Okay then, I guess I'll stay" and then just a couple of chapters later it's "how dare you keep secrets from me. I'm leaving" again. Over and over again. Bleh.
January 31, 2020
This was okay -- I'm hoping this was intended for younger people, because the writing is so remedial that it practically drove me bonkers. I was left wondering how old Liza and Holly were, because neither of them behaved as adults. I understand that Peter was supposed to be the youngest member of the Friday Night Psychics, but the idea that he was supposedly in a relationship with Liza felt like total hogwash. I can understand the other reviews that were left for this book, because there were so many cringe-worthy moments I very nearly did not finish at times. I would only recommend this book for Middle School aged children.
June 22, 2020
Poorly researched.
Hackers don't use brute force password attacks.
Highly secure systems don't use 20 character passwords.
If you're looking for an international terrorist, the FBI wouldn't be the branch, that would be CIA or Interpol.
Modern police motorbikes don't use kick-starters.
Keyloggers don't have wires, they are most commonly a software device, or more likely in today's world, a special keyboard.
If I could do Astral projection, I wouldn't waste it on a silly scheme like that. Imagine the passwords and security codes you could hack. You could easily do much more lucrative schemes.
I also didn't find the characters compelling.
Hackers don't use brute force password attacks.
Highly secure systems don't use 20 character passwords.
If you're looking for an international terrorist, the FBI wouldn't be the branch, that would be CIA or Interpol.
Modern police motorbikes don't use kick-starters.
Keyloggers don't have wires, they are most commonly a software device, or more likely in today's world, a special keyboard.
If I could do Astral projection, I wouldn't waste it on a silly scheme like that. Imagine the passwords and security codes you could hack. You could easily do much more lucrative schemes.
I also didn't find the characters compelling.
October 25, 2019
I've read lots of Swain's novels and enjoy the gambling/magic ones the most. This new series, stepping into shuteye magic (what magicians and mentalists call palm readers, etc. who actually {or apparently} believe their performance lines), didn't hold much interest, even with the many references to stage magic. As with dream stories. with ghost stories there is a minimal requirement to ground the story in reality. While this book didn't get as wacky as some, the genre just doesn't hold my attention.
June 24, 2022
Interesting plot but the actions and personalities of the protagonists are very frustrating. The characters point out time crucial priorities and then divert on pointless discussions/arguments . Friends, adoptive family members, coworkers at time act like acquaintances to one another. Dysfunctional examples of dealing with anger and secrets. Characters getting angry frustrated over behaviors they themselves just demonstrated. Too bad the premise had potential
June 24, 2024
The storyline was interesting. The way he wrote up the girlfriend and the witch girl who loved him, Holly, was basically insulting to women. The witch could have been a strong character but instead all her drama over Peter was annoying and the girlfriend who knew there was something dangerous going on was so whiny and selfish it distracted from the story. I was disappointed at how much he cared for her. That whole part of the storyline was unnecessary and useless.
April 9, 2018
James Swain is great...yet this book sucked. Read anything else he writes.
Waa this book written for 8 year old kids? It seems like it was. His other books rock! Read his Cunningham or his Valentine book series. Don't read this. I am thouroughly confused at how such a great writer could write this drivel.
Waa this book written for 8 year old kids? It seems like it was. His other books rock! Read his Cunningham or his Valentine book series. Don't read this. I am thouroughly confused at how such a great writer could write this drivel.
October 28, 2019
Blurbed by Michael Connelly and Lee Child. The story certainly moves along quickly, and kept me interested. I was, however, put off by Swain's writing style, or rather, lack of style. One short declarative sentence after another, after another, after another, after another. Even though the story was interesting enough to keep me reading, I don't think I'll read any more Swain.
March 25, 2020
It had potential to be better- I thought the writing was ok, characters could have been evolved more. The book started out very sudden without any build up as to whom the characters were. I had issues with the ending and how abrupt it was with details overlooked. Overall it was interesting and I did enjoy the concept.
August 31, 2020
the storyline was okay and the writing was decent but one character just derailed the story over and over again. And that was a stupid girlfriend. she didn't care one bit that the world was in trouble. All she cared about was that her boyfriend wasn't giving her attention. Annoying would be an understatement for her.
June 4, 2023
A magician who is a psychic and whose parents were killed by a dark order. Should have been good but was: 1) formulaic 2) very poorly written with short choppy sentences 3) rife with truly annoying characters. The descriptions of magic tricks were good which is what kept me reading - otherwise it would have been a DNF for me from the second time the whiny girlfriend left.
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