Thief of night

The women in Charlie Hall's family seem to be cursed, so it's no surprise that she couldn't fully escape a life of thieving, bad men, and dangerous magic in her first outing, Book of Night. She thought she was getting one over on the shadow mages who run her world, but instead she put a collar around her own neck and exposed the man she loved as the monster he'd always been. Now the stakes are bloodier and higher, and her lover doesn't even remember who he is or what they were. All she can do is survive and hope to get out from under all the monsters who are after her--and try to get back everything she lost. This urban fantasy-tinged romantasy gets deep into the heart of grifter Charlie and shreds it to pieces. With Charlie's luck, finding out that her mundane boyfriend was a monster in disguise shouldn't have been a surprise, but discovering that they're in this mess together stitches her heart back together. VERDICT Readers looking for urban fantasy with some romance and a woman character with grit will love riding along with Charlie.--Marlene Harris

After the events ofBook of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre. Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It's her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow--a "Blight"-- and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red's memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red's memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn't remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people's bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn't want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he'll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other. A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.