Book Review: Mind Magic by Eileen Wilks

Mind Magic
Author: Eileen Wilks
Series: A Novel of the Lupi (Book 12)
Publication: Berkley (November 3, 2015)

Description: FBI agent Lily Yu’s mind is a dangerous place to be in the latest Novel of the Lupi…

Thanks to the mindspeech lessons she’s receiving from the black dragon, Lily is temporarily benched from Unit Twelve—until her brain acclimates and the risk of total burnout passes. At least she has her new husband, lupi Rule Turner, to keep her occupied.

But when her mentor calls in a favor and sends Lily to a murder scene, she’s suddenly back on active status—despite the hallucinations she can’t keep at bay.  With one touch, Lily knows the man was killed by magic, but her senses don’t warn her how far the conspiracy goes…

A shadowy force within the government wants to take Unit Twelve down, and they don't mind killing to achieve their goal. With none of her usual resources, Lily is up against impossible odds--because with her mind in disarray, she can’t trust anything she sees.

My Thoughts: Lily Yu is on sick leave because she is learning to mindspeak and is currently plagued with hallucinations until her brain makes some adjustments. Most troubling to both her and Rule is that she is also having trouble with her mate sense. Neither one can pinpoint the other's location which is especially troubling to Rule. However, before she can make her adjustments, Ruben sends her to a small Ohio town because of a premonition.

Rule is forced to stay in Washington, DC, because of another premonition. Thus when he is arrested on suspicion of having child porn, Lily isn't there. And, by the time his lawyer gets him out of jail, Lily has disappeared. Despite being under house arrest with a monitor on his ankle, Rule is determined to get to Ohio and find his missing mate.

Meanwhile, Lily and the dying werewolf who insisted on going with her are being kept under a magically induced sleep which Lily had thought was impossible since she's generally immune to magic. She had been kidnapped by brownies to help the dragon who is missing from Washington, DC, with a major problem.

A good part of this story is told by Demi who is seventeen, has Asperger's. and is a hacker genius. We learn that she is an orphan who was taken in by Mr. Smith and placed in his home for Gifted children. Demi is also a touch sensitive who identified other Gifted children for Mr. Smith. However, she went away to college at sixteen and, when she returned to the home, she learned that Mr. Smith had been lying to her about his purpose.

Mr. Smith has now launched a campaign to discredit Ruben and his Unit 12. He is the one who is behind the false accusation against Rule since he also wants the werewolves discredited, hunted, and destroyed. Mr. Smith considers himself a patriot who has the best interests of the country in his mind and feels that he is the only one who can serve those best interests. His plan puts the Dragon Accord in danger and he simply doesn't realize how powerful the dragons are and how necessary they are to the smooth running of the world.

This was a very good episode in the series. We learned lots of interesting new things about dragons. We also saw Lily learn a new skill. I especially enjoyed the portions told from Rule's point of view because they showed the world as werewolves see it. The brownies were a fun new species that I don't recall from earlier books.

Fans of the series won't want to miss this great new episode.


Favorite Quote:

Three dozen brownies came skipping out of the woods, singing at the top of their lungs, some holding hands, some holding flowers. The IFVs—which did look rather like tanks, with their treads and turrets—slowed. And were quickly swarmed by brownies, who climbed up on the vehicles, tossing flowers around like flower girls at the world's oddest wedding. A few brownies hung back, pointedly aiming their phones at the scene. The Internet community would be very interested in those videos.

The brownies were singing "It's a Small World"—one of the most insidious earworms ever invented.

I bought this one. You can buy your copy here.