In a world much like ours, but infused with shadow magic, lives a cynical, badass thief who is trying to walk the straight and narrow but keeps finding herself caught up in the dealings of shady underworld magicians. Charlie Hall just wants to stay safe: bartending, helping her sister Posey get into college, and spending time with her enigmatic boyfriend, Vince. But old habits die hard. Crooks and desperate figures know her criminal past and won’t let her leave that life behind.

Charlie is the clever and abrasively charming protagonist of Holly Black’s adult debut novel, BOOK OF NIGHT. Existing on the thin line between hero and antihero, she certainly doesn’t lack courage, but her morality is often bent by her curiosity, need for action and self-preservation. One night, while working a shift at the Rapture, a man comes in looking for a book titled Liber Noctem on behalf of a powerful and dangerous man named Lionel Salt. Salt’s name is not one Charlie likes to hear.

"Charlie’s story has it all: action both supernatural and mundane, relationship issues, family strife, thrills and surprises. Black deftly handles it all and hands readers an engaging and entertaining page-turner."

As a young con artist, manipulated into working for her mother’s friend, Charlie found herself at Salt’s mansion one fateful night, saved from certain death by a mysterious and anonymous rescuer. But now, against her better judgment, she is drawn back into Salt’s world as they both seek Liber Noctem. Along the way, Charlie gets tangled up with various gloamists, magicians who can manipulate their shadows; happens upon a few gruesome murders; tracks down a wayward spouse; questions her relationship with Vince; and wrestles with her own past.

BOOK OF NIGHT is full of dark magic. There are Blights, shadows separated from their people, and those who can control their shadows in ways both fanciful and frightening. Posey longs for an altered shadow, and Vince is vaguely unsettling without one. The novel also examines the ways in which wealth can protect the corrupt and poverty itself makes people vulnerable to jeopardy.

Charlie gets pulled closer and closer to her nemesis as she searches for Liber Noctem and as she tries to connect the dots between a Hierophant, various Blights, a powerful but secretive Cabal, and Salt’s interest in the missing book. As the tale progresses, Black reveals more about Charlie’s past and what motivates her to put herself in harm’s way. Her impulsivity starts making sense, and as her skill set is explored, Charlie becomes increasingly compelling and impressive.

The shadow magic of the gloamists is interesting and pretty original in BOOK OF NIGHT. Black doesn’t overexplain her magic, and it helps that the book’s setting is otherwise totally familiar. Charlie is a great character --- a smart, sarcastic, strong, curvy and tattooed woman who wants peace and quiet just as much as she craves adventure. Childhood realities and family dynamics help explain her willingness to run toward peril as well as some of her loyalties.

Charlie’s story has it all: action both supernatural and mundane, relationship issues, family strife, thrills and surprises. Black deftly handles it all and hands readers an engaging and entertaining page-turner.