On the Edge by Ilona Andrews
ISBN: 9780441017805
I purchased this book.
In the Kate Daniels urban fantasy series by husband and wife writing team “Ilona Andrews” sarcasm, action and things that go bump in the night rule, so I was eager to pick up another Andrews world to delve into.
In this world there is The Weird, where magic rules and beasts run rampant, The Broken, our world where magic is dead and guns run rampant, and The Edge, which sits between and has a little of both. Rose is a single mom, by courtesy of being the adult left to raise her two younger brothers after her mother died and her father abandoned them. She has just enough power to hold her own, but too much for the other residents of The Edge to feel comfortable with her (or ignore her). Like has happened many times before since her powers surfaced, one day a handsome, arrogant man shows up on her lawn demanding to have her as his bride<~~Cross out broodmare and unwilling to give her a choice in the matter.
The gorgeous blueblood from the Weird, Declan, triggers every bad male instinct Rose has and threatens her family and her sanity. But no matter what the pretense, Declan is not just in The Edge for Rose. He’s come for a monster stalking the woods as well. Declan, Rose, and the distrusting community of The Edge must find a way to come together before the monster picks them all off to feed.
On the Edge has a very urban fantasy feel, and Andrews retains a balance of action, humor and darkness that I truly enjoy. In many ways this is an urban fantasy book, but the differences are enough to push the still new genre into a wider interpretation.
Translated into the horror genre, On the Edge would be set in a mysterious backwoods community that’s hiding a strange power, but represents a real danger to any outsider who doesn’t leave them be. Washed with urban fantasy influences instead, readers will still find the mysterious and potentially dangerous community that lives in a rural area (that particularly speaks to me with the experiences I’ve had in rural central Kentucky communities) which has formed a unique kind of magic, some would see as a bastardized form of high or formal magic.
The community here has a good reason for their wariness of outsiders. The Broken sees them as freaks, and in some cases illegal aliens. The Weird sees them as weak mongrels. Rose herself can’t even trust the neighbors since a few of them tried to sell her into “marriage” to bluebloods who expect her power to breed true.
On the Edge is a deliciously complex debut world, with full, unique characters and enough plot and intrigue to keep it out of the paranormal romance genre. It has elements of fantasy, romance, mystery, thriller and awesome. I eagerly await the second book in this series and can’t wait to see how this family evolves in the world that challenges them.