New Juicy Review: Street Magic by Caitlin Kittredge

Book:              Street Magic

Author:            Caitlin Kittredge

Publisher:        St. Martin’s Press

ISBN/ASIN:    9780312943615

Rating:            Five Stars

Caitlin Kittredge’s Street Magic is more than just an urban fantasy fix. Its an edgy, sinister treat. Kittredge has created two unforgettable characters that you will want to revisit again and again, just to peel away their unending layers. Hopelessly flawed, we gravitate towards Jack Winter and Pete Caldecott. Those imperfections speak to us, we relate to them.

Kittredge has drawn Jack Winter as a diabolically seductive enigma with a deeply troubled soul. Once Winter was a mage superstar in The Black until he summoned an entity that tore his soul apart and forced him to make some very nasty decisions. Unfortunately he dragged his girlfriends’ younger sister and ingénue, Pete along with him.

Twelve years have passed since that fateful eve, and the stain of that day still linger on. The soul-deep ties that were forged with spirit, blood and bone in that decrepit cemetery cannot be denied. Jack and Pete must join forces yet again against a deadly entity despite their past, and despite their personal demons. The Black awaits them. Whether they are ready or not.

The overwhelming personal conflict between these two is the real draw-as is the selfless pursuit of saving Jack’s soul by Pete. Is Jack worth saving? Can he summon the courage within himself to fulfill the destiny at hand? Readers will inevitably dissect and invest themselves in this sole pursuit. Who is the real Jack Winter? How much will he sacrifice to save Pete? Can the crow-mage and his Weir battle this amorphous enemy? And how does the future of The Black rest on their collective shoulders?

Kittredge has done her job. She has engaged and thrilled the reader. The realm of The Black as it exists in London and its occupants are enticing. Combined with Jack and Pete’s magical exploits it makes for a heady read. Street Magic has an overall sense of a mosh pit at Fivers meshed with The Clash and Poppy Brite’s Lost Souls. There are so many juicy bits to gnaw at and savor that I simply don’t know where to start. You’ll want to suck the marrow clean of Kittredge’s story and still lick your chops for more.

A Fiendishly Bookish Review