I received this book free from NetGalley.com as I loved the idea of magical tattoos that move. I wasn't really sure what to expect but was completely amazed! This story was fantastic!
Synopsis from Goodreads.com:
In an alternate Atlanta where vampires and werewolves prowl the night, magic is real, and tattoo magic is the strongest magic of them all, a serial killer is targeting the magically tattooed on the full moon.
Dakota Frost, best magical tattooist in the Southeast, learns from the police she may be a target ... just when she receives a lucrative commission to ink a magic tattoo for a werewolf before the next full moon.
Caught between the rough and tumble world of the werewolves, the law and order rules of the vampires, and a sexy man-in-black whose motives are in doubt, Dakota must tread carefully to survive - because she doesn't know whether her werewolf client is the tattoo killer ... or the next victim.
My review:
Dakota Frost is a magical tattoo artist and uses magic to make her tattoos come to life. She is able to make them leave her body and attach themselves to someone else, or as we find out later in the book she can use them to help defend herself.
Dakota is asked by the police to help with an investigation (her dad is a cop so she knows people on the force). She is confused at first as to why she's being called in, but all is revealed - there is a serial killer on the loose who is cutting off people's magical tattoos.
Dakota is later approached by her shady friend Spleen to ink a tattoo on an associate of his, who just happens to be a werewolf. The tattoo design he gives her is not one she's familiar with, so before she can ink him up she has to get it checked out by her friend, a graphomancer, a witch who searches the designs for charms, wards, spells etc to make sure they are safe to use. As part of this tattoo check, Dakota has to visit a werehouse, a local place for all kinds of shifters. To ensure her safety in this not-so-nice werehouse, Dakota pays a visit to her ex-girlfriend, the local vampire queen. In theory no vamps or Edgeworlders should touch Dakota whilst she is wearing Lady Saffron's collar, but that doesn't quite go to plan.
Dakota ends up offending a vampire, who later on takes his revenge, so much so that Dakota ends up in hospital with severe injuries. Once recovered she is challenged by the Mysterious Mirabilus, a stage magician/illusionist who claims he can perform any trick that a real magic user can, despite having no real magical talent. His challenge: Dakota has to ink his assistant with a working watch tattoo. The prize: 1 million dollars! Easy enough!
On her visit to the werehouse, Dakota meets a 15 year old were-tiger who is permanently in half tiger form. Cinnamon, as Dakota names her, takes a liking to our heroine and soon becomes a regular feature at her shop and home. However, the serial killer manages to get ahold of Cinnamon, using her as a bargaining tool to get to Dakota. She goes to a closed nightclub to try to save her, only that doesn't work out either....Dakota finds herself in a very bad situation and the serial killer is revealed as the last person I expected.
This book was brilliant! The idea of the magical tattoos is not one I've come across before and made it so much more interesting - I love the idea of using them for defense as well as looking pretty! This book was full of action, which I love. I don't really go for soppy romance books! The description of the characters and settings were really detailed but not too lengthy (nothing like Stephen King's 5 page description of a street - ok I might be exaggerating there, but you get my gist!). I loved the twist in the end of the book when the serial killer is revealed as well - I was so not expecting it. I would highly recommend this book, if you enjoy reading urban fantasy books, or even if you don't and fancy something a bit different!
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