Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge

I love a good gritty urban fantasy novel and Caitlin Kittredge's Street Magic definitely fills the order. The first novel in what is called the Black London series, Street Magic is fun, fast and very engaging. I could not put it down.

Pete, a female London detective, and Jack, a heroin addict and powerful mage, are fun, flawed and endearing. It's incredibly touching how much Pete cares about Jack, a childhood friend, despite the fact that Jack is a pain in the ass responsible for one of the most traumatic events in her life.

The story moves very quickly and major events unfold at a pretty good pace, thus making it difficult to put down because you always want to know what's going to happen next. The interactions and dialogue between Pete and Jack are also priceless. The world that Kittredge builds is scary and dangerous yet fascinating. There are so many questions about the Black - a world that mirrors our own but populated with creatures that live only in our nightmares - that keep the reader hooked.

I really enjoyed this novel and definitely cannot wait to nip over to the bookstore to pick up the next one in this series. Unfortunately she has only released two books for Black London so far so I might find myself picking up a book from her other series, Nocturne City, to tide me over.