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Cisco Suarez versus an entire Caribbean drug cartel. Round one. Fight.

Okay, not exactly the most even championship match, but it's the one I drew. If you told me months ago I'd be robbing drug dealers, I would've committed you myself. Who needs that kind of trouble, right?

The good news is I'm only after one man: Connor Hatch. The bad news is he's the new Pablo Escobar, a primal being, and all but untouchable.

It gets worse. He's rounding up the Russian mob for something big, and I'm not the only spellslinger in the picture. They say follow the money or follow the drugs. Maybe I should keep an eye on who's following me.

Some problems call for a delicate hand. I don't have those kinds of problems.

340 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2016

160 people are currently reading
134 people want to read

About the author

Domino Finn

32 books212 followers
Domino Finn is an entertainment industry veteran, a contributor to award-winning video games, and the grizzled Urban Fantasy author of the best-selling Black Magic Outlaw series. His stories are equal parts spit, beer, and blood, and are notable for treating weighty issues with a supernatural veneer. If Domino has one rallying cry for the world, it's that fantasy is serious business.

Take up arms at DominoFinn.com

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5 stars
175 (40%)
4 stars
161 (37%)
3 stars
82 (19%)
2 stars
9 (2%)
1 star
2 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
Profile Image for Gavin.
1,082 reviews447 followers
September 21, 2018
This was a good fourth instalment of Domino Finn's Black Magic Outlaw series. I actually feel like this series is improving with each new book. It is turning into a light and fun UF series packed full of action and crazy characters!

The best thing this book has going for it is the mix of fun action and hilarious dialogue. I'm not always a fan of action scenes in my stories so it is to Domino Finn's credit that he manages to hold my attention so well in the action scenes in these books. The other big plus for the series is the story is told from the first person perspective of the lead character Cisco Suarez and he has a unique and fun voice.

She took the news in stride. "You still talk about yourself in the third person?"
"Occasionally. For effect."
"Well, stop it."


That said, I was still glad someone called him out on referring to himself in the third person so often lol!

The story was pretty engaging. After identifying Connor Hatch as the guy to blame for his troubles Cisco sets his sights on causing trouble for the guy. Not an easy thing considering Connor is actually a Jinn who cannot be directly harmed by humans unless they enter into a bargain with him. That leaves Cisco targeting his businesses in Miami. Pity Connor Hatch is the head of a powerful Caribbean drug cartel and Cisco has only his magic and his wits to bring to the party!

I found the story quite engaging. Cisco has his flaws but he is still easy to root for and is also a super amusing narrator. The guy is never short of a witty one liner even when getting beat to a pulp! The action scenes were good, the secondary characters fun, and story interesting.

Finn's hilarious dialogue is what makes this series such a fun read. Here is one of my favourite moments:

"Look at Mulder and Scully here," I commented, eyebrows raised in mock admiration.
Shen turned to me quizzically. "I'm Chinese."
I shrugged. Clean-cut confidence was close enough. And Darcy had the hairdo.
"Who's Mulder and Scully?" she asked.
"Really?" I shot back. "How old are you?"
"Seventeen."
I did the math. "Wow, as much as I hate to admit it, it literally was before your time."
"They're on Netflix," offered Shen. "Even the new ones, I think."
Darcy scowled. "Netflix is for old people. I watch YouTube."
Shen and Darcy got into a debate on the merits of user-generated content and corporate media overlords.


Hilarious stuff and not the sort of chat you expect abduction!

I quite enjoyed this latest BMO book and look forward to reading more of Cisco Suarez's adventures in the future.

Rating: 4 stars. I feel like an increased rating is due to show this series is improving.

Audio Note: Neil Hellegers does a fantastic job with the audio. His character voice are good and he really seems to get the tone and humor of the story. He is the perfect voice for Cisco!
Profile Image for Karen  ⚜Mess⚜.
944 reviews70 followers
January 24, 2020
Staying true to his style Domino Finn delivers another epic Cisco Suarez novel.
Profile Image for Natasha Isaacs.
194 reviews3 followers
September 7, 2016
Go sisco

I gave only 3 stars because I am so ready to for Sisco to stop letting people push him around! I mean come on his many times is he going to let people hurt him and constantly push him around before he gets fed up with it? I also get him wanting to save his daughter but he gives the Horn over to someone who can literally kill thousands of people and kids! I love how he is a smartass and witty but I am ready to see him stick up for himself and to also stop crying over his ex girlfriend who treats him like shit.
Profile Image for Rhonda Jones.
2,794 reviews17 followers
February 2, 2017
Powerful

Do you know how it is when you are reading as fast as you can because the action and suspense gets your hear beating and you just have to see how the end turns out? Well that was me. Only I absolutely hated the end! So why did I rate the book 5 stars? Because the story was fantastic. In the notes at the end of the book the author says this will be a 5 book series, and the last book is not written yet. Well, get to writing and fix the horrible end of this book! Please.
Profile Image for Susan.
1,735 reviews40 followers
December 31, 2017
Note: This is Book 4 in the series and really needs to be read as part of that series, not as a stand alone.

The Spaniard really shines in this book. His acerbic wit and gruff personality provide the perfect counterpoint to Cisco’s snark. In this book, a really important point about the Spaniard is revealed and this made some touching moments between Cisco and him.

As with the other books in this series, there’s plenty of action. In fact, one of my favorite scenes is the big opening. It’s a car chase and pretty soon there’s plenty of cocaine snowing down. Cisco thinks rolling around in it makes for fine crime fighting… or rather, stealing from other criminals. Ha!

The Horn of Subjugation, which the Spaniard is attached to, continues to be an object of desire. Everyone wants it and Cisco has to keep it safe. It’s a full time job and the grumpy Spaniard doesn’t always make it an enjoyable one.

Cisco does spend some serious page time feeling sorry for himself. To be fair, it’s only been weeks since he awoke from his mindless zombie status, but it’s been just over 10 years for everyone else. His ex-girlfriend Emily has moved on… with his best friend Evan. So that hurts, but Cisco figured this out a book or 2 ago so I’m ready for him to be able to put that on the back burner while he deals with more important matters. Alas, his self-centered nature alienates him from his few remaining friends, like Milena (Cisco’s sister’s best friend from high school). He makes plenty of dumb mistakes in this book, some of which he’s already made earlier in the series. Cisco may well be a slow learner and that is a little boring for me.

There are some great villains in this story. Connor Hatch is a chilling, ruthless antagonist that will be hard to take down! Erg! I love hating him but I also look forward to Cisco taking him out. Then there’s a jinn with a screw loose and a headless zombie. And how exactly does one take out a headless zombie? Well, I’ll hold Cisco’s beer while he shows you. Ha!

The ending left me conflicted. Cisco makes a big decision and he’s driven by good reasons, but it also makes it easier for Connor Hatch to destroy so many other people. Big things are revealed and Cisco learns some keys things about those in his life. So I liked all the big stuff going on as it sets us up perfectly for Book 5. Yet I also wonder if Cisco may have made one too many mistakes to survive this series. Guess I’ll have to find out! 4.5/5 stars.

The Narration: Neil Hellegers is just really great with this series. His performance as Cisco is spot on, complete with light accent and machismo. I love his voice as the Spaniard! His female voices are believably feminine and all his character voices are distinct. There were no technical issues with this recording. 5/5 stars.
Profile Image for Amy Braun.
Author 36 books349 followers
October 8, 2020
I loved this one! The story and drama of Cisco and his life remained thrilling and exciting. The book was packed with just as much action and twists and reveals. The series keeps getting better and better, even though it leaves the gritty hero in more danger than before.

The story led to some great places and adventures, all ending in a choice that will change everything he does. The side characters were developed and new creatures and enemies were introduced. Everything moved at a sharp clip and had me begging for more!

Cisco and his morally grey choices continued to make for an enthralling read, though I loved the addition of side characters like Milena and Evan. There were so many family and friendship ties to keep the stakes raised and the book tightly wound.

A great urban fantasy series that readers will want to indulge in!
Profile Image for Anna.
157 reviews2 followers
January 21, 2017
The lovable Cisco has continued to entertain me from start to finish in this action packed story.
He's done a deal to safeguard his family and friends, but put himself in harms way from THE ONE that he really needs to bring down.
I can't wait for the concluding book in this awesome series to discover how Cisco's going to save himself and his City, and perhaps find out more about the Spaniard who Cisco found out to be his great, great (not sure how many times recurring) grandfather after making the deal which means he's now an enemy instead of an ally!!
Profile Image for Johnny.
2,188 reviews86 followers
August 20, 2017
Full of bad choices

How can one man make so many bad choices? You'll have to read the book to find out.
I read two of these books in one day. Either the stories are really good or kinda short. I'm going with short.
I didn't find any problems with the writing of the story, just some of the choices that the MC made.
I can recommend the book as it does full in the story nicely, but I feel the author is attached to his main bad guy and it's the only reason he hasn't died yet.
We shall see in book five if I am right.
Profile Image for Chris Stevens.
Author 12 books2 followers
August 17, 2022
It's getting better

Four books in, so I guess it's safe to say that I'm invested. It's a good story and each book has gotten a little better. I also like the recap at the beginning of each book. Right now I'm reading the books back to back, but it will be helpful when I'm caught up and then have to wait a year or more for the next one. This also saves on having to rehash things in the story itself. I wish more authors did this.
297 reviews1 follower
October 31, 2021
Wow Gets better

This series keeps getting better and has me completely committed .thank you Mr Finn for your great writing. Also the audio narrater is perfect. I'm so looking forward to the next book
Profile Image for Samuel Yoffe.
6 reviews6 followers
June 9, 2022
This book was good up until the end. Cisco makes so many bad choices it becoming harder and harder to believe he will get out of tough situations. I will still read book 5 but he has got to learn eventually right?
Profile Image for Joey Calvey.
113 reviews6 followers
June 14, 2017
Great book

Great continuation of the Black Magic Outlaw series. Lots of new twists, looking forward to the next books very much.
Profile Image for Eric Evans.
582 reviews7 followers
July 4, 2017
Cisco is back and continuing his war against Connor Hatch. Great read, packed full of action, black magic, and some cool twists. This is a great addition to a great series.
Profile Image for G..
129 reviews25 followers
July 24, 2017
3 1/2, voted down to 3 because I just didn't like how the end played out...
Profile Image for Angela Hicks.
Author 2 books
November 16, 2020
Listened to this on audible and it's a great series. The narrator does a wonderful job too.
Profile Image for Gareth Otton.
Author 5 books133 followers
November 30, 2016
I wasn't overly impressed with the last novel, but this is an easy reading series and the early two books bought some good will, so I decided to give this book a read. And... well... it's okay.

It's not great, but it's a fun read. That being said, it is falling into the same trap that kills my interest in 90% of long-running series... it's predictable.

Before I go into that, let's discuss what this book does right. Mainly this falls into to categories, action, and likeable characters.

1 - Action - As a series that relies on action over story, it's good that this action is well written and interesting. It makes for an easy reading book that can be quite enjoyable.

2 - Likeable characters - Easily the most important part of any novel are characters that you can root for. In the main, that's the case here. Granted, I could care less about his ex-girlfriend and ex-best friend, but the other characters are easy to form attachments with... even if Cisco is a bit too stupid to live sometimes.

That's the good out of the way, now onto my issues with the book... mainly, it's predictability.

In an effort to maintain the status quo, characters don't change or learn from previous mistakes. You can be fairly certain that if anything good is bestowed upon a main character, then he/she will lose it soon (Why can't a protagonist actually achieve a goal and find a different conflict to focus on going forward?). Also in spite of the constant danger, this need for the status quo robs the book of tension. It's a pretty sure bet who's going to survive from the outset of the novel and in most cases, you could lay just as much money on the fact that they will survive relatively intact in spite of facing impossible odds.

Can this kind of story work where all of the above happens? Of course. It's alright for the opening books in a series because it gives readers a chance to get to know the characters and the world. But keep going back to that same schtick over and over, the writing is going to get predictable.

Though I enjoyed this book, my interest is waning. I'll probably read the next book, but I'm looking for something interesting to happen. I want Cisco and the whole cast to learn from their mistakes, I want to actually see the characters progress in some way whether that's changing relationships or growing as people.

Cisco is the biggest casualty of this. He never learns from his mistakes, is still letting his self-pity and guilt hold him back, and basically is exactly the same character we were introduced to in the first book. At some point, he needs to get over that and start being a strong protagonist who can deal with his baggage and not let people walk all over him.

Overall this was an okay read that did just enough to keep me interested and nothing more. It's a 3-star read that has the potential to be higher. Hopefully, the next book capitalises on that potential.
266 reviews9 followers
September 25, 2016
Probably the best written book to date; it pulls from the history of the previous 3 novels and blends them together, almost "Magically", while introducing new characters and elements to the story. Major progression here. It also leaves enough question marks and ends with enough of an ante (even though it is slightly anti-climatic), that the stakes are raised for the next book(s) in the series; and you wonder, actively, how Cisco will shake out of the latest mess he's made for himself.

The only downfall is the very ending of the book. Usually, Finn is better at this, but this one is a bit more longwinded and gets to the point of droning a bit. Outside of that, the book would be damn near perfect.

Personal asides (without spoilers), I am really hoping some of his new characters return for the next few few books, and that he continues to build on them. It seems that this is what he left a wide opening for, and the direction he'll take, but time will tell.
Profile Image for Kim.
508 reviews5 followers
September 7, 2021
Awesome addition to the series!

Cisco Suarez is going after the leader of the Caribbean drug cartel, Connor Hatch. Tag along for a spectacular spell slinging showdown full of monsters, action, adventure and gritty urban fantasy fun. This series shows no sign of slowing down or burning out – it just keeps getting better and better. I love reading the books and I love listening to Neil Hellegers narrate the audiobooks. He lends the perfect voice to Cisco and brings all the other characters alive, as well. If you enjoy dark urban fantasy, this is definitely a series worth investigating. Always a fun ride and, as usual, I am really looking forward to the next adventure.

I was provided with a copy of the audiobook by the author and I am voluntarily offering my honest and unbiased review.
Profile Image for Kay.
1,724 reviews18 followers
September 6, 2016
It is absolutely amazing that:

1. Cisco has survived;
2. Cisco has survived intact (sort of);
3. Cisco has survived intact (sort of) and still has friend(s) willing to help him;
4. Some characters have changed their minds about him because of his actions (both good and bad);
5. Readers' attitudes towards some characters have changed as the books have gone on.

Great continuing story, well told. I can't wait for the next one!

I was given a digital copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
339 reviews4 followers
February 15, 2017
Pretty good

4th installment, just the fact that I'm willing to read the 4th book in a series says a lot about it. Sometimes I get 2 or 3 books in and just have no desire to continue reading a series, that's not the case with these books. They're pretty good, not awesome or so good I'm counting the days till the next one, and super excited to see a new one, but good enough that when I see a new book out in the series I definitely know that I'll get it and enjoy it.
88 reviews1 follower
December 2, 2016
Disappointing

I love this series and all it's previous entries. I even loved the first 90% of this book. However the last ten percent was only there to promote the next book. I liked this series because each had a meaning to go on. This one felt like it should have cleaned up the series and ended it, but now it will drag on because the author wanted more money. I know it's probably not that heinous, but the ending seemed so cobbled together that's what I got from it.
49 reviews
November 11, 2016
Solid read

I enjoyed this book, and I was happy to revisit Cisco's world. Honestly, I am not a fan of cliffhangers and this one ends with a big one. Still a good read, but I wish I had started the series after the final installment was out because selfishly I would have liked to read the entire series without pause.
Profile Image for Diann.
318 reviews
January 6, 2017
This latest installment of The Black Magic Outlaw series is
fantastic. I love Cisco, he is a wonderful character, I will gladly
read anything about him. This story was jam-packed with action,
excitement and very unique magic. I would highly recommend it
to everyone, you will not be disappointed.
Profile Image for Lisa.
12 reviews
September 11, 2016
Powder trade

This book is fantastic. Domino Finn sure can keep you interested from page one till the end of the book. Leaving you needing more and never disappointed
658 reviews3 followers
December 24, 2016
Very good writing, exciting and a great continuing storyline. Good characters. Loved reading this book! Lots of magic! I received a complimentary copy of this book for voluntary review consideration.
548 reviews3 followers
January 30, 2017
Great read

Another exciting sequel in the Cisco Suarez series. Lots of action . Several twists I the plot. Can't wait for the next t book.
Profile Image for Don Hart.
24 reviews41 followers
October 28, 2016
This series continues to entertain with good plots and great characters.
7 reviews12 followers
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January 16, 2019
The climax with Cisco greatest nemesis was a wonderful finale.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews

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