Hard Magic

Paranormal Scene Investigations, Book 1

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Hard Magic

By: Laura Anne Gilman

Narrated by: Romy Nordlinger

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About this listen

Welcome to P.U.P.I. - Private, Unaffiliated, Paranormal Investigations. A handpicked team trained to solve crimes the regular police can't touch - crimes of magic.

"My name's Bonnie Torres. Recent college grad, magic user, and severely unemployed. Until I got a call out of nowhere to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. It smelled fishy, but the brutal truth was I needed the work - so off I went. Two days later I'm a PUPI - me and Nick, Sharon, Nifty, and Pietr. Five 20-somethings, thrown into an entirely new career in forensic magic.

"The first job we get is a doozy: proving that the deaths of two Talents were murder, not suicide. Worse, there are high-profile people who want us to close up shop and go away. We're sniffing out things they'd rather keep buried. Looks as if this job is gonna get interesting. The only problem is, we're making it up as we go along...."

Classics

Fantasy

Paranormal

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Editor reviews

Performer Romy Nordlinger is pitch-perfect casting for urban fantasy Hard Magic's narrator Bonnie Torres, a smart, feisty scryer who can read electric currents for clues to solve crimes committed by other magic-wielding talents. Nordlinger brings to life Laura Anne Gilman's ragtag team of lovingly crafted characters at once colorful and credible, from Bonnie's old-money mentor, J, to her intense, lonejack boss, Venec.

Gilman's high-concept parallel world weaves together political intrigue, the mysteries the mercenary agency is charged with investigating, and Bonnie's coming of age story as she strikes out on her own.

Most relevant

I didn't know what to make of this at first but it pulled me in. I think the ideas were fun and exciting and the author is pretty good. Overall good listen and fun. I must say the narrator Romy Nordlinger is exceptionally good and made the experience for me.

Overall good

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I really loved the concept of paranormal investigators and the book started well but then failed to deliver against my expectations. In the second half of the book the plot grew weak, there was little progress and frankly I had grown bored then all of a sudden the end arrived.

What will your next listen be?

Tom Rob Smith

Do you think Hard Magic needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

Not if it's as disappointing overall as this one

Any additional comments?

Pity. As I say imaginative and original idea could have been great

Great idea but poor delivery

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I liked Bonnie, she's finding herself and trying to stand on her own two feet away from her loving albeit overbearing mentor. After a very unusual interview she becomes part of a team called P.U.P.I 'Private Unaffiliated Paranormal Investigations'.
The general magical community is very much against this new organisation and the fledgling force knows it will struggle to survive.
Each in the team have something to contribute and must get over their ego's to be able to work together. Ian their boss will have it no other way.
There are some gaping holes in the world and I found it very difficult to believe why the magical community would have such an aversion to a team specializing in magical crime without being affiliated to any one else bar themselves, plus I could not understand why Bonnie never really confronted the enigmatic Vasic, no spoilers here just saying.
Despite this the magical world L.G has created is intricate and clever, the characters fully fleshed out and engaging, it's magical C.S.I with bells on.
Looking forward to how this series pans out.
Mustn't forget to mention Romy Nordlinger, great narration.

Forensic magic...

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I bought this in the sale at a really good price and enjoyed it enough to buy the series, also on sale. The best thing about the book is that it has a good plot, like most of the detective fantasy novels you come across. A new organization of talent {magic users) are put together, in the face of strong opposition from the magical communities, to investigate talent related crimes. Their first case is the mystery of an elderly couple whose death has been ruled as joint suicide. It took me a while to get into the story but it is overall an enjoyable listen. The narrator was good, not brilliant and a little belabored at times but one I would be happy to listen to again.

Overall I would only recommend this book, if like me you listen to several audio-books a week and you could buy it at a low price on sale. There is a childishness to the writing, the characters are far too stereotyped and overall it felt like this was a trying to be a teen novel for twenty somethings, which really didn't work. There are so many brilliant books on Audible of this type that I'd suggest instead:

Anne Bishop's Written in Red: A Novel of the Others
Michelle Sagara Chronicles of Elantra
Jim Butcher Dresden files
Sergei Lukyanenko The Watch Series
Ben Aaronovitch The Rivers Of London series.

Hard Magic: Paranormal Scene Investigations.

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I loved this book from start to finish, great character's that will leave you to want to find out more about them, looking forward to the next book

Hard magic

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