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The Mage in Black Details:

Sabina Kane doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to family. After all, her own grandmother, the leader of the vampire race, just tried to kill her. When she arrives in New York to meet the mage side of her family, the reunion takes the fun out of dysfunctional.

On top of that, the Hekate Council wants to use her as a pawn in the brewing war against the vampires. Her mission will take her into the bowels of New York’s Black Light district, entangles her in mage politics, and challenges her beliefs about the race she was raised to distrust. And Sabina thought vampires were bloodthirsty.

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3404 in eBooks
• Published on: 2010-04-01
• Released on: 2010-04-08
• Format: Kindle Book
• Number of items: 1

Happy Customers Say:

Action-Packed Sequel
Former assassin, Sabina Kane has decided to travel to New York to meet her long lost twin at the Hekate Council. And being a vampire/mage hybrid, she can begin a more thorough training of her magical abilities. But after a couple attempts on her life, it seems that someone within the haven of mages wants Sabina out of the way. Meanwhile, her demon familiar decides to join a fight club, where the last rule is `no mercy.’

Sabina is a strong, kick-butt female, who doesn’t easily trust people after the betrayal of her grandmother. Her sister and demon familiar are more light-hearted and upbeat characters that have a great contrasting affect on Sabina. They bring out a different side of her. Sabina also grows in her magical abilities, and is put to the test in several ways. And along the way, we learn that she has a mysterious destiny involving the unity of all the dark races.

There is no sophomore slump here. This second Sabina Kane novel was even more fast-paced and action packed than the first. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down, and read it in just a few short hours. Wells’ fantastic world of a vast array of magical and mythical creatures focuses more on mages, werewolves and demons in this installment. With mystery, danger, suspense, magic, and a bit of romance, this urban fantasy series has it all. Last year, The Red-Headed Stepchild made my list of favorites, and having enjoyed The Mage in Black even more, I’m sure it will make this year’s list as well.

Welcome to the magical world
My thoughts…In case you are new to this series, this is book two. Book one was good, but I was waiting for something to set this heroine apart from others in the Urban Fantasy world. Book two, The Mage In Black did just that. Readers learn in book one that Sabina Kane is half vampire and half mage, but the mage side is not really explored. TMIB really explores her magical abilities, introduces a magical community, and gives Sabina platform to stand on.

In The Mage In Black, I saw different sides of Sabina. She was vulnerable at times, desperate, and sentimental, but she maintained her kick-butt strength. The character growth really helped me relate and connect to her. I do not want to give any spoilers, but I will say that we see some old faces in book two, such as Giguhl and Adam. There are also some new characters that leave a lasting impression, including a potential love interest. I have to say the demon remains my favorite character.

The Mage In Black was packed with action. The first few chapters pick up right where book one left off and continues with a steady pace. Sabina finds herself on the opposite coast. Life in New York City proves to be challenging as do the people. Conspiracy flows like blood as Sabina tries to find out who (or what) is after her. The ending left a bit of a cliffhanger, plenty of unresolved issues for book three, Green-Eyed Demon.

*I recently discovered that the prequel to Red-Headed Stepchild, titled Vampsploitation, can be found in The Mammoth Book of Vampire Romance book 2.

Fangs, Magic, and Fur…Oh My!
The Mage in Black, book two of the Sabina Kane series, picks up where Red-Headed Stepchild (Sabina Kane) left off (picks up with a bloody vengeance, in fact), so if you’re new to the series, you’ll be missing a lot if you don’t read that book first. Yes, you could read The Mage in Black as a stand-alone, mostly because the plot of this one isn’t directly related to the plot in the first, but the characters and backstory are important enough that I wouldn’t recommend that route.

In Book Two, Sabina is off to New York City (the Big Apple as the major seat of mage power when “the forbidden fruit” is so deadly to vampires…coincidence?) to meet the twin sister she just found out she had, but that’s not the only reason she’s going – she’s not that sentimental – she’s also going because she’s burning with the need to stick one to dear granny Lavinia, the lying, scheming, bitch of a grandmother and head of the Dominae council…and the one woman almost solely responsible for turning Sabina into little more than a conscienceless, fanged weapon. And nothing will get granny’s panties in a bunch quicker than Sabina going over to the dark side and forming an alliance with the much-hated mancies, a vampire’s most reviled enemy.

But life in NYC isn’t what Sabina was expecting and soon she’s in over her head, feeling lost and totally overwhelmed by a mage philosophy she can’t understand and politics she doesn’t want any part of. To top it off, someone is still trying to kill her…but she’s sort of gotten used to that by now. Will Sabina be able to warm to her long lost family and embrace her half-mage heritage…or will that heritage blow up in her face and take her down, along with everyone she’s just starting to care about?

There are a lot of things about The Mage in Black that I enjoyed. The plot is stronger and considerably less convoluted than Red-Headed Stepchild. It starts fast and bloody and keeps a nice, hectic pace, with just enough humor throughout to be entertaining. There were some lulls in the action that felt very organic to the story and instead of bogging down the plot or pace, gives the reader a bit of a breather and Sabina a chance for a bit more much-needed character growth. A few of my favorite characters are back, Giguhl, Sabina’s demon familiar, in particular, and the yummy mage Adam we meet in the first book. There is quite a nice subplot with Giguhl that I liked very much. The addition of a few interesting characters, including an old frenemy of Sabina’s, was nice and added depth to the plot as it also developed the world in which these characters inhabit. That’s a good thing, as I felt the first book a bit lacking on world-building and what was there was dished out sort of haphazardly. Not so here. I felt the world really start to snap into focus in The Mage in Black, and I very much appreciated an introduction to some of the other dark races.

One of the things I neither liked nor particularly understood in Red-Headed Stepchild was the religious aspect of the Dominae – I felt it an odd mythos that wasn’t very well explained or described – so it was nice not to have that problem in this book, as I was worried the mage culture would be similarly structured. It wasn’t, so I was happy.

My only significant issue with The Mage In Black is actually one of the things I had a problem with in the first book: I’m not sold on Sabina. I didn’t like her very much at all in the previous novel, and in this one, while I saw strides towards growth and healthy development, and a satisfying lessening of her inner sociopathy, none of that came quick enough in the book for me to really warm to her as a character. I understand and am familiar with a character’s development through an arc of a series, so I’m tentatively okay with not being very fond of her at this point in the story, but it does lessen my enjoyment of reading about her. Not enough to stop reading by any means, but enough that this book isn’t a five star read for me.

I have to give Jaye Wells credit, though, as she’s deftly able to maintain a complex and damaged character who isn’t very empathetic, who has a huge morality issue and a tendency to ignore, distrust, or doubt every ounce of kindness offered to her. Wells is showing the growth of her heroine in fits and starts, and while I may not like Sabina all the time, I find that change and growth to be realistic and well-written, and think the motivations behind Sabina’s feelings and actions are sound. I hope to see continued development in the character in Green-Eyed Demon, Book Three of the Sabina Kane series, when it is released.

About the Author
Raised in Texas, Jaye Wells grew up reading everything she could get her hands on. Her penchant for daydreaming was often noted by frustrated teachers. She embarked on a series of random career paths, including stints working for a motivational speaker and at an art museum. Jaye eventually realized that while she loved writing, she found facts boring. So, she left all that behind to indulge her overactive imagination and make stuff up for a living. Besides writing, she enjoys travel, art, history, and researching weird and arcane subjects. She lives in Texas with her saintly husband and devilish son. Find out more about Jaye Wells at www.jayewells.com.

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