Review: The Better Part of Darkness by Kelly Gay

The Better Part of Darkness
Charlie Madigan #1
by Kelly Gay
Mass Market Paperback, 416 pages
Published November 24th 2009 by Pocket Books
ISBN 13 9781439109656
copy courtesy of publisher

Atlanta: it's the promised city for the off-worlders, foreigners from the alternate dimensions of heaven-like Elysia and hell-like Charbydon. Some bring good works and miracles. And some bring unimaginable evil....
Charlie Madigan is a divorced mother of one, and a kick-ass cop trained to take down the toughest human and off-world criminals. She's recently returned from the dead after a brutal attack, an unexplained revival that has left her plagued by ruthless nightmares and random outbursts of strength that make doing her job for Atlanta P.D.'s Integration Task Force even harder. Since the Revelation, the criminal element in Underground Atlanta has grown, leaving Charlie and her partner Hank to keep the chaos to a dull roar. But now an insidious new danger is descending on her city with terrifying speed, threatening innocent lives: a deadly, off-world narcotic known as ash. Charlie is determined to uncover the source of ash before it targets another victim -- but can she protect those she loves from a force more powerful than heaven and hell combined?

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Lexi's Thoughts
Urban Fantasy at its finest, the Charlie Madigan series will turn you into an addict. 

The Better Part of Darkness has strong sci-fi elements to it. Other worlds and the beings that inhabit them have made their presence known to our world. Atlanta is the chosen city, but will throwing its doors open be a blessing or a curse? The new races of beings in one city creates a clash that will change the world and one woman will be right in the middle of it.

Enter Charlie Madigan, a woman dealing with a broken family, defending her daughter, and dealing with her own natural abilities that have been compounded by her death. Yes you heard that right, she died but was brought back to life. An amazing feat, but all it really does is piss her off. Amped up super powers may not be what Charlie wants, but she will soon realize that she needs to embrace them if she wants to save her family, friends, and city.

There are so many wonderful characters introduced in The Better Part of Darkness. Will/Rex the once husband, Bryn the little sister with some powers of her own, Hank the siren who is also Charlie’s partner, and so many more. Charlie has a diverse group helping her, which is exactly what is needed. Once you pick up book one you will have to have book two on hand, Gay’s characters wont let you stop reading.

 Rating: 4 Wines, a great new UF series!