An Ill-Advised Rescue

Kate Daniels #5.8

by Ilona Andrews

When Saiman is kidnapped, he calls Kate Daniels to come rescue him.

Genres: Urban Fantasy, Fantasy, Magic, Short Stories, Paranormal, Novella, Audiobook

24 pages, ebook

First published July 30, 2013

About the author

Ilona Andrews is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing team. Ilona is a native-born Russian and Gordon is a former communications sergeant in the U.S. Army. Contrary to popular belief, Gordon was never an intelligence officer with a license to kill, and Ilona was never the mysterious Russian spy who seduced him. They met in college, in English Composition 101, where Ilona got a better grade. (Gordon is still sore about that.)

Gordon and Ilona currently reside in Oregon with their two children, three dogs and a cat. They have co-authored two series, the bestselling urban fantasy of Kate Daniels and romantic urban fantasy of The Edge.

Reviews

[Lucie V. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a short story that can be found at the end of Magic Rises. It's only 15 pages long or so, but it shows us how Kate decided to kick asses to save Saiman, and earned a favor from him in return. I expect that this short story will become relevant in future books whenever Kate needs this favor from Saiman.

I usually struggle to get invested in short stories, but I really enjoyed this one!


0.5 A Questionable Client ⭐⭐⭐
1. Magic Bites ⭐⭐⭐.5
2. Magic Burns ⭐⭐⭐⭐
3. Magic Strikes ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
🔫 3.5 Magic Mourns ⭐⭐⭐.5 (Andrea novella)
4. Magic Bleeds ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🐅 4.5 Magic Dreams ⭐⭐⭐ (Dali novella)
5. Magic Slays ⭐⭐⭐⭐
5.5 Magic Gifts ⭐⭐⭐.5
🔫5.6 Gunmetal Magic ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Andrea full-length novel)


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[Jessica ❁ ➳ Silverbow ➳ ❁ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some recently dismissed Red Guards decide to take up kidnapping as a new profession.

Their target? Saiman.

The million dollar (heh) question: will Kate pay the ransom or make the former Red Guards pay?

Read it and find out.

(This short story can be found in MAGIC RISES.)

[Zero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great short story showing Kate, Derek, and Grendel rescue Saiman from some kidnappers.

Set before (and heavily referenced in) Magic Rises.

[Just Josie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it so hard😍 Give me all these little snippets of these amazing people.
I want it ALL😍

[Choco Con Churros · Rating 3 out of 5]

Incluído en el siguiente número, el N° 06 de la saga, no obstante parece que se recomienda leerlo antes de leer el 6. Una pequeña aventura que se deja leer... pero no sé por qué presiento que está para explicar por qué Saiman le debe un favor a Kate. Es un barrunte mío. Goodreads lectores (Sagas)

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most deleted scenes are deleted for good reason, and An Ill-Advised Rescue displays quite a few reasons in its twenty pages. It offers no character moments to speak off, although Kate's tendency to speak in the third person is still annoyingly here. She always acts like her antics will make front-page news. The whole story is a convoluted exercise to make Saiman indebted to Kate, when I think most readers would be more than satisfied with a paragraph surmising these events anyway.

I don't want to be overly punitive about what is essentially bonus material I didn't have to pay for, but its overall quality can't be overlooked because it was free either. An Ill-Advised Rescue reads like it was written: a slice of decent action with zero stakes that acts as perfunctory set-up for a better story down the line.

[Mindy Lou's Book Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kate isn't thrilled to get a ransom call in the middle of the night for Saiman. She's also not one to turn down the bounty, though so she'll take her chances. She just needs to keep Curran from finding out. He's not Saiman's biggest fans.

Fun short story!

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saiman is kidnapped, Kate Daniels comes to the rescue. Highlight of the story: the attack poodle.

[Chloë · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun quick read - this short story is found in Magic Rises.

Kate, Derek & Grendel are off on a quest to rescue Saiman:

“I need backup.” “Who are we killing?” He switched to the other arm and kept pushing. “Some ex–Red Guards, and we’re not necessarily going to kill them. We’re just going to visit them and explain that kidnapping Saiman for ransom is a bad idea.” Derek stopped moving. “They kidnapped the pervert?” I nodded. He hopped to his feet. “This I’ve got to see.”

It was suggested in the Acknowledgments that it be read first, so I’m waiting to see how it pays off!

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Included in Magic Rises, book #6 in the Kate Daniel's series. Of which I have two copies because the search function in my Nook app didn't pull it up with the rest, so now I have one Nook and one Kobo.

[LoveYourShelf (LAB☺) · Rating 5 out of 5]

re-read 7/9/23
original read 8/21/21

[Kate McMurry · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting short-short story

Kate, Derek and her shape-shifting, magical "attack poodle" Grendel save Saiman from kidnappers.

The story is set a few weeks before the events of Magic Rises.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, boy. Saiman has a way of bringing out some strong emotions in both Kate and Curran. It's no wonder Kate chose to keep her mouth shut about this particular rescue.

That said, Kate is pretty darn kick-ass when she goes in. The lady intimidates well. It might be the sword. Or her growly backup. EITHER WAY. She has some pretty fancy moves for a lady who's trying to fly under the radar. To be honest, I'm not sure if Kate's idea of "under the radar" and mine are exactly the same.

Not that it matters in the end. Kate steps in and she does what needs to be done. And the payment she extracts is sweet indeed. Favors, man. Such a terrifying piece of currency when dealing with Kate.

As always, I love all the little glimpses and jaunts into this messed up world. Here's to many more!

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Carolyn F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this before as a short story attached to Magic Rises but I was going through all of the short stories I hadn't read already by this author and this is now listed separately. I could barely remember it so I thought I'd read it again for the review's sake.

Saiman is kidnapped. So Kate, Derek and Grendel go to save him. Really good story.

[Fly · Rating 5 out of 5]

attack poodle ♥

[Brandi (Brandi Janee's Bookshelf) · Rating 4 out of 5]

**4.5 stars**

[Genres and Journals *Tia* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short deleted scene …Kate, Derek, and Grendel rescue Saiman from scorned Red Guard members.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised that the audiobook included this short as well. I agree that some phrasings were repeated from the main manuscript but there were also some new nuances added as well.

It always warms my heart when Kate and Derek get to go on adventures together. I love with Grendel kicks ass too. And Saiman in his natural form. Yummy!

[Stasi Apple (The Reads of an Apple) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread Sept 2024 via the Magic Rises Graphic Audio - So much fun! Love a Kate and Derek team up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Review is up on my blog!

http://thereadsofanapple.blogspot.com...

[Vyshakh Aravindan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one is short, snarky, and completely delightful. Saiman gets kidnapped. Kate gets annoyed. Chaos ensues.

There’s something inherently hilarious about Saiman—this arrogant, brilliant, shape-shifting businessman who thinks he's untouchable—needing Kate to rescue him. And of course, she agrees… for a price.

The story is brief but super satisfying. It gives us a nice hit of Kate's sarcastic, get-it-done energy, and reminds us just how terrifyingly competent she is. She walks into a building full of bad guys, insults everyone, takes her sweet time, and then unleashes hell when they push her too far.

It also has one of those signature Ilona Andrews “blink and you miss it” moments of depth: a brief pause where Kate reflects on how easy it would be to kill, how close she is to the monster her bloodline says she should become—and how she chooses not to. Every time.

Short, sharp, and funny, An Ill-Advised Rescue is like a quick hit of everything you love about Kate in under 30 pages.

[♥ I’d Rather Be Reading ♥ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deleted scene from Magic Rises.

Saiman gets himself kidnapped and Kate, Derek, and her attack poodle Grendel must try to save him.

Just another day at the office.

Cute short story (or deleted scene as it were). I absolutely love this series! So much fun. As much as I did like this short though I can see why it was cut from Magic Rises, as it doesn't have anything to do with anything in that book. I could've seen them adding this to an anthology though, it's good enough to be in one, maybe not long enough though.

Anyways, good short, a must read if you're a fan of the series. :)

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

A completely unnecessary short story that was cut from Magic Rises, but can be found at the back of the book. I normally enjoy extra content, but it was a good call to cut this from the book. Saiman gets rescued & owes Kate a favor. I think the problem was that it was intended to be a short chapter as part of a longer story...whereas if it had been expanded into its own novella, it could have been complicated enough to be interesting. As it is, you can skip it & not worry about having missed something...which isn't true about the other novellas in this series.

[Laurla2]

24 pages.

included at the end of the kindle version of "magic rises."

"people more knowledgeable than me in things canine swore that he was a full-blooded standard poodle that somehow had grown to great dane size and was born with the trademark doberman color scheme. his hobbies included urinating, vomiting, and farting, preferable in my general direction and at the same time, but he was loyal and fought for me, which made him a good dog in my book."

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Saiman is kidnapped, he calls Kate Daniels to come rescue him.

Heather's Notes
I have read this story several times, but listened this last time. I love Saiman and Kate's interactions. They are so funny. I also like the dog. The graphic audio had the story, at the end, I feel like it should have been first as the actions happen before the beginning of the book, and are referenced in the book.

[Mistress OP · Rating 5 out of 5]

Future Me - This is located in Magic Rise e-book at the end.

I enjoyed it enough to wish for an audio version. It always stuck me as sad how quickly the pair moves through the world with kate. I'd have love more consort kate stories and that whole queen kate stuff. Which we will hopefully get in the new kate series.

[Octavia Cade · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know what you'd call the end of this: Poodle ex machina? The dog is the best part, anyway. It's a straightforward little story, enjoyable but slight - I started reading this series a while back and got side-tracked, so it's fun to come back to it.

It does seem sort of mean to call a poodle Grendel, but I admit it makes me laugh.

[Colourful Kenyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The one where Saiman is rescued from his kidnappers for 100k. Here Kate is lust as reckless and we get to see what went down. I wanted to read this as a pick me up after the last book that was a little dull and blunt. This series is so addictive.

[Tameka · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to see the cut scene that was missing. Although I do understand how it does not fit anywhere in particular. It does make sense on the rescue and how to come to be that Samon owe them a huge favor.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Saiman gets kidnapped, included at the end of Magic Rises. Saiman is a pain in the ass, again. This is a deleted scene, and I can see why it didn’t fit in the story. It is very informative though. I am so glad the author continues to release these nuggets.

Freebie from author.