W. L. Goodwater

Make sure you read the first book in this series, Breach, before you read this one.

Karen O'Neill, a governmental employee who works in the office of Magic, is very unhappy and considering her resignation when an old colleague contacts her about what his employer is doing in Cuba. In fact, he has smuggled out a relic, which begs Karen in Spanish to help her. After a chaotic scene in the Miami airport where her friend is killed, Karen heads to Cuba, where Batista rules absolutely and the U.S. employer is under his protection. Karen reconnects with a CIA guy from Berlin, and works to uncover the evil plans of the businessman at great peril to herself. Weird, but not as wonderful as the first book; however, Karen is a just person, a helluva magician, and seems headed in the right direction, saving lives that matter.… (mehr)

I really enjoyed this book. It's truly ambitious and fun: alternate history, urban fantasy, spy thriller (East vs. West), historical fiction, magic, good vs. evil. Great premise too: a re-imagined Berlin Wall, created after the WWII out of magic, rather than a physical materials. However, the Wall's super powerful magic is failing, starting with a small, but ever-growing breach, threatening global conflict. The CIA request assistance from the Office of Magical Research and Deployment, who sends a young magician (Karen O'Neil), whose research specialty is how magic could be used to heal, rather than harm. An odd choice, for sure. She quickly discovers that she is a lone woman in a man's world, and being untrained in spycraft, much is kept from her. Karen is a wonderful character, growing in many ways, and ultimately able to best the men at their own game (colleagues, allies, and adversaries alike), doing more than they ever thought possible.

An East German magician (Erwin Ehle) uses his prodigious skills to contact Karen, and promises to help fix the problem, if she helps him defect to the West. Meanwhile, the Soviets send their most powerful magician (the Nightingale) and enforcer to help find a extremely well hidden talisman of dark magic that could bring about the end of the world. The hiding place itself is wildly creative a section of Berlin, stuck in a time warp. Various factions among the Allied forces also seem to want this untold power in their hands, leaving the reader puzzled over who are the good guys. Karen and Erwin are the pivotal and most developed characters, but there are a number of strong supporting characters, especially Jim (the spy), Arthur (the spymaster), and even, Karen's mentor in the OMRD.

I thought the book was well-written, well-paced, even captivating, with escalating tension between the countries, characters, and even, the fundamental nature of magic itself. My two minor quibbles were: (1) the backstory of Karen's family was utterly unnecessary and (2) the mystery of how magic actually worked. There were simply too many variants: spoken spells, use of arcane symbols, a personal locus, mental manipulation, and especially, how Karen managed to grow her powers. Hopefully, we will learn more in a sequel.… (mehr)

I don't even know where to begin with this book. I really liked the premise of Breach to begin with, but it turned out to be so much more than I expected. This book is action-packed, suspenseful, and a little scary in some places (Auttenberg, this means you), but it was wholly entertaining and I read it in one sitting. A Berlin Wall made of magic is such an interesting concept, and I think the world-building was pretty well done. The rules of magic in this fantasy don't feel fully fleshed out, but that's okay because this is a world where the magic users don't fully understand it themselves. Karen's job as a magic researcher sets the stage for magical rules that evolve and change as the series develops. I'm interested to see where the story goes from here, because though the ending had a crazy twist, it didn't feel like much of a cliffhanger. All in all I think this is a fantastic start to the Cold War Magic series, and I'll definitely be looking out for the next book. Thanks to First to Read for the advance copy.… (mehr)