The Department of Magic by Rod Kierkegaard Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Book Info: Genre: Urban Fantasy Reading Level: Adult
Disclosure: I picked up a free copy on Amazon; later I found it offered on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was more than happy to get the excuse to read this book sooner, so took up the offer.
Synopsis: It’s hate at first sight.
Jasmine Farah and Rocco di Angelo are competing for the same job in a dusty office in a secret Federal agency run by the mysterious, menacing Jefferson Davis Crawley – “Creepy” Crawley, as he’s known.
When Crawley is murdered in front of them after their first day on the job, Jasmine and Rocco are left to figure out who killed their new boss, and exactly what a job in the so-called Department of Magic entails. And magic, it seems, is nothing like it seems in children’s books; it’s dark and bloody and sexual.
What follows is a nightmare gallop through a world of ghosts, spooks, vampires, demons, and the minions of South American and Voodoo gods hell-bent on destroying the world and subjugating all America in the year 2012.
Only Rock and Jazz, in the company of a ragtag team of urhobos – homeless guardians of the District of Columbia– can prevent it by resurrecting “Goddess America” in a mystical ceremony on the Fourth of July, as the story reaches its bittersweet and unforeseen climax.
My Thoughts: I got the biggest kick out of the excerpts from The Federal Bestiary that open each chapter in this book. Kierkegaard has a sly and dark sense of humor that I found very appealing. I was also very amused by the idea of the Goddess America; it put a whole new perspective on Goddess worship, that’s for sure! It was interesting and refreshing to read an urban fantasy in which the main characters had no particular specialness – no powers, not monsters of any type, not even particularly good fighters, just regular people put into strange circumstances. Highly recommended for fans of urban fantasy and good story-telling.
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