Book Review: Death Magic by MJ Kraus (Makeshift Wizard #0)

My job was supposed to be easy. Investigate a bleed farm, find the a-hole vamps who've been kidnapping Normals and bring down some street justice. Now I've got a relic in my hands that was created with the blood and death magic of an elder Vampire and a whole lot more questions than answers. My name's William J. Silver. I'm a wizard - sort of. I'm the thirteenth line of the family Silver, one of the most powerful wizarding families in the world. I was born with a genetic anomaly that makes it impossible for me to tap into the Void, though. The result? I'm as Normal as any one of you. Or at least I was.

Now I've got to dodge both the Normals and the Council, both of whom would gladly tear me apart and dissect me to find out my secrets. All while I try and redeem myself for the arrogance and foolishness of my youth.

The Makeshift Wizard series is a new action-packed urban fantasy series from bestselling author MJ Kraus. Better known as Mike Kraus in post-apocalyptic circles, Mike's written multiple bestselling post-apocalyptic series and has recently expanded into the urban fantasy sphere. 

My Review:
William is a wizard and a New York beat cop. Previously he worked for a crime syndicate who tried to kill him for developing a conscience over the people they were cheating.  Now he is a cop and is forever getting into trouble for poking his nose into investigations that he is not involved in. After a tip, he breaks into an apartment which is alleged to be the site of a vampire bleed farm, where kidnapped humans are taken and drained of their blood. The victims have been moved but evidence of the farm does remain, along with a fleeing vampire. William is able to get his hands on the book that the vampire leaves behind, which has powerful magic in it.

With this being a short story I don't want to say too much more about the actual plot for fear of spoiling it but basically William is now a marked man because the owners of the book want it back. The only person he can turn to is best friend Sully, the man who saved his life. I love Sully and his wife as supporting characters in the plot. Hopefully we'll see more of them in future books. William is a decent MC and I found him interesting enough to carry the story.

I've already read a horror short story by this author and liked it and I'm a fan of his apocalypse books. I think I'll probably read on with this series as well when time allows.

Read July 2017.
3 stars