Wendi Coffman-Porter

Book source ~ The Write Reads Tour

Leilani “Lei” Falconi is an agent for the Imperial Investigative Service and has been for many years. The IIS polices the two areas of space that was brought about by the Great Sundering. Aether space is where magic or eldrich is used and kuldain is where technology excelled. There’s been an uneasy peace between the two realities, but something or someone is stirring up trouble and that makes Lei’s job even harder. She stumbles upon a case involving suspicious deaths and the further she gets pulled into the investigation the more tangled and dangerous it becomes. Will this be the one to retire her permanently?

This is a rich and layered world with a great many varied inhabitants. There’s magic and technology galore, too. While this story is told from Lei’s POV there are several other characters who are front and center. There’s a shitton of action. Lei is always in the thick of things and she’s always the biggest badass around. Which is not always favorable. I’m a bit disappointed that Lei gets out of every situation because she is nearly literally pulling some kind of technology out of her ass to help her succeed and advance the story. She’s like this Uber Character that can never do wrong, always kicks ass, and everyone admires her. However, I like her despite this flaw in how she is written. The characters around her are many and varied so it takes some time to sort them all out. The worlds are complicated, the politics even more so. And that’s before you toss a mystery into the mix. But Lei’s story will pick you up and carry you right along until the end. Or is it?… (meer)