Rosie’s #Bookreview Of Magical #UrbanFantasy The Day Of First Sun by Sheryl Steines

The Day of First Sun by Sheryl Steines

3.5 stars

The Day Of First Sun is book one of the Wizard Hall Chronicles, a magical fantasy series. Set in Chicago, this book will remind readers of several of their favourite paranormal books, television shows and films. The book features wizards, vampires, zombies and the FBI in a magical storyline.

Annie Pearce is a member of The Wizard Guard, a police force for the magical community. The story opens with Annie brewing a potion in readiness for hunting down a vampire believed to be building a zombie army. But Annie and crime partner Cham are soon called away to deal with two other murder cases. One of the murders has the non-magical FBI investigating it and Annie must decide if she can trust Special Agent Jack Ramsey. If they are to work together then he may need to be introduced to the paranormal community.

There is a lot keeping Annie busy; in other areas, a magical ceremonial knife is stolen, while a powerful orb which collects souls is also snatched. Who is dealing in black magic and where will it all end?

This book packs in plenty of action. I liked the opening chapters; Annie is a tough heroine who takes risks, but she’s competent and experienced. There are plenty of magical encounters throughout, from simple summoning charms to dangerous vampire elimination. Although the plot was easy to follow, at times it felt a little disjointed, and some minor story threads faded. Just a little more work was needed to make it all convincing.

For me, the book felt like fan fiction; everything the author loved about all her favourite series, written to honour them. One of the hardest parts about any storyline that features popular themes is making it different. I thought the author needed to push her boundaries to take the work further away from popular storylines which are already on the market.

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If you liked Ella Gray you should meet Annie Pearce.

When the high-profile, non-magical Princess Amelie is murdered by a curse, magical police officer Annie Pearce is pulled into the FBI investigation to find her killer.

While Annie’s worked with non-magicals before, this case is different. She must investigate the princess’s murder with an anxious world demanding news about the death of a member of the royal family of Amborix. Every step Annie takes is scrutinized.

Throughout the investigation, Annie contends with a dogged reporter, who believes there’s something odd about Annie; a rocky relationship between Amborix and the United States; and the realization that the princess’s death was only collateral damage, masking a deeper plot to destroy the wizard world.

The body count continues to grow, the pieces of the puzzle become clearer and Annie soon learns her case is related to one from her past. With that knowledge she becomes reckless and her actions lead her down a path that threatens to expose magic.

Will Annie be able to solve this Urban Fantasy Murder Mystery before it’s too late?

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