Reviewed by Krista McKeeth
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.
Hardcover, 352 pages Published May 22nd 2012 by Tor Books ISBN 0765329948 (ISBN13: 9780765329943)
This is my first James Swain book and I found it very exciting. It starts with Peter and his group of psychics having one of their weekly meetings. This time, he experiences a very disturbing vision in which he witnesses an act of mass murder taking place in New York City. It will happen in just 4 days time, and he sees the person responsible. He becomes apprehensive about whether to go to the police with the information for fear of revealing his psychic abilities. But when this mysterious man shows up at one of his magic shows and attacks him on stage, Peter has no choice but to retaliate.
Peter decides that he wants to find answers of his own but when more of his group becomes in danger, he eventually has to work with the police. He has to be careful though, as this guy always seems to be one step ahead. How did the murderer get his friends names, know where they live and most of all, what does he have to do with the tragedy that they envisioned happening in Times Square?
As the story progresses Peter develops more powers and becomes more dangerous to the very powerful group that has hired this hit man. For the majority of the story Peter is trying to solve the mystery, capture the bad guy before he kills more of his friends, and always stay one step ahead of the police. With the distractions of his job and his girlfriend, Peter really has a lot on his plate, and not a lot of time to find the answers.
It is a very fast paced novel with a lot of events happening one after another. I was surprised when he learns things about his past he never knew and how dedicated this girlfriend really is to him after he confesses his own secrets. It’s a fun, enjoyable light read with humuor, magic, drama and the excitement of close calls and last minute escapes.
