Julie Doe

I really enjoyed Devon Monk's Allie Beckstrom series and was sad when that series was over. Then I found out about this book, which picks up about three years after the final events in "Magic For a Price" and has Shamus Flynn for a narrator instead of Allie. Shamus was always on of my favorite characters from the series; I liked the bad-boy thing when I was younger (and still have a fondness for it now even though I've outgrown that phase), and I still quite enjoy sarcasm. Shame is full of sarcasm.

Other reviewers here have summarized the plot, so I won't rehash it in detail. Generally, magic is now a pale shadow of what it was before it was "healed" in "Magic for a Price". The only people who can wield magic with much power are Soul Complements. Shame and Terric are Soul Complements, much to Shame's dismay, and government may be coming after them and other Soul Complements to use as weapons.

Shame and Terric are still going at it again in this one; Shame is still struggling with his connection to Terric, and we get to see a little more of Terric's personal life. A new character named Dessa is introduced part way through, and it was good to see Shame get a bit of a comeuppance (although Allie never took any flack from him either).

For fans of the Allie Beckstrom series, this one is a must-read. However, if you haven't read the earlier series, the world-building may be a bit thin and you may miss some of the subtleties or inside jokes or subtext or whatever you want to call it. This is the first book in duology. The second book, "Stone Cold", is due out in about a week.