Trancehack by Sonya Clark (Magic Born #1)
Released: October 28, 2013
Paranormal Romance
Carina Press

Reviewed by Mandi

Blurb: It’s 2065. Those born with magic abilities live in government-run zones, without rights or freedoms. Fear of magic created this segregated world and fear keeps it intact.

A high-profile murder brings Detective Nathan Perez to Magic Born Zone 13. He’s had little experience with the Magic Born and isn’t sure what to expect during his first encounter with a witch, but he never thought he’d be so drawn to her.

Trancehacker Calla Vesper uses magic to break into computers and aid the Magic Born underground. She has no interest in helping a cop, even if he is smoking-hot, but money’s tight and Nate offers a tidy amount for help navigating the Zone. Calla’s determined to keep it all business, but sparks start flying before the investigation even gets started.

When Calla’s trancehacking and Nathan’s investigation uncover a conspiracy, Calla becomes a target. Nate can protect her by keeping her role a secret—but then who will protect Nate?

This book had potential. Set a bit into the future where those magic born are segregated, not trusted and shunned by the humans. Many times if “normals” have a magic baby, the baby is taken and grows up with no record of who its birth parents are. I like this concept. The heroine is magic born. She is feisty and a witch and can hack into data. I should have been in love. Alas. While the world is set up along with a mysterious death, it’s then not really explored. It’s boring and just kind of falls apart.

Nathan who is a human and a detective comes across geeky and nerdy but then when you learn he is this big, muscle-bound guy it was hard for me to get the geeky image out of my head.  In my mind he was kind of beta and I wanted him to have some geeky love. But I guess he is a big guy and while he does find love, the chemistry is a little rusty.

Not to say I hated the book. I kept reading hoping to be excited or blown away by a plot twist or some kind of action but that was hard to find. I liked the hero and heroine – I just needed more from the world and from the overall story to keep me interested.

Rating: C-

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