Just finished reading Hexed which was a really entertaining start to what promises to be a great new series of urban fantasy books (at least I hope there are going to be more books!)

This is a fast paced story with plenty going on.  We get off to an immediate start after a young girl called Gina is abducted following a stop over gone wrong at the local spooky derelict house.  This is no normal abduction though, Gina has been literally grabbed and pulled through a mirror by a witch – it doesn’t bode well!  Her father, who witnessed the whole thing and is now only too aware of the supernatural world that exists around us, has been given a name for somebody who may be able to help retrieve his daughter.  Clearly, calling the cops isn’t going to help – Gina’s father Buck is only too well aware of that as he is one.  This is going to require a different touch.  And this is how we’re introduced to Lucifer.

Lucifer is a thief, not of jewellery or other valuables, but of mystical, magical, enchanted things that she takes from people who would use them unwisely.  She’s had a rough start in life which has resulted in her knowing how to handle herself.  And, she’s been hexed.  Unfortunately, Lucifer went too far and stole from the wrong person – The Harlot or Keeper of Secrets – not somebody you really want to get on the bad side of.  On top of that Lucifer is low maintenance – the most girly thing about her is her bag of tricks and her soft toys – and I think we’d all love a bag of tricks like that!

So, why did I love this book.  The writing is so readable.  It’s the type of writing that just makes it look easy to write when actually it isn’t.  Nelson definitely has a way with words and the ability to conjure a scene.  On top of that he’s taken the ‘witch’ theme and come up with some really creative ideas.  Possession by filcher demons, the harlot, the whole history behind Witchdown, the witches themselves and how they got to be so powerful – it’s just a really good story, well told.

The plot is literally about trying to recover Gina from the aether before it’s too late.  She’s been dragged to Witchdown by one of seven all powerful witches and clearly they’ve not dragged her there to exchange beauty tips.  Getting her back is going to involve a little bit of detective work, a little bit of thievery and a lot of near death encounters.

Lucifer is the main character.  The name, which I’m sure you’ll be wondering about, is a nickname made up from the two names of her grandmothers Luci and Jennifer.  Okay, maybe she could have come up with something a little less devilish but there it is and to be honest it kind of suits her (just as well though that her grannies weren’t called Penny and Issy, or Diana and Blossom, for example!). Then we have David, Gina’s boyfriend, who is also anxious to find her and keen to help with the search, although, his motives start to seem a little dubious as the book goes on!  In that respect, I’m just going to throw in here that there’s an ‘almost’ love triangle coupled with a little bit of ‘instalove’ – yes, the most hated tropes of YA and urban fantasy, but, before you all run for the hills I will just say that it’s not really annoying in this instance – in fact there’s a sort of method in the madness going on here and not only does it serve to demonstrate how very much Lucifer longs to be just a ‘regular’ girl with a boyfriend, a fact we all tend to forget when we’re reading about the next kick ass female, but, also, it is used later on in the story to good effect.

I didn’t really have any criticisms – I did have a moment where I wondered why Lucifer would put herself into such dangerous situations to recover a girl that she doesn’t even know but I think that’s cleared up later in the book.

Overall a fast paced, amusing, highly creative and fun, alternating with scary, read with a very good ending.  I sincerely hope there will be more.

I received a copy through Prometheus for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.