Silver-Tongued Devil

Half-mage, half-vampire Sabina Kane is torn between her two races in the fast-paced fourth tale in Wells’s urban fantasy series (after 2011’s Green-Eyed Demon). With a peace treaty soon to be signed by the vampires, mages, and faeries, Sabina is free to study magic and enjoy her romance with the handsome mage Adam Lazarus. Then a pair of murders threatens both the treaty and the rule of Sabina’s former lover, vampire vice lord Slade Corbin. Ordered by mage and vampire leaders to investigate, Sabina and Adam must deal with the unwanted assistance of obstreperous vampire Alexis Vega while struggling with Sabina’s suppressed bloodlust and her traumatized twin sister’s inability to have the prophetic dreams on which the mages depend. Despite two-dimensional characterization, contrived humor, and some painful sexual clichés, Wells improves on the previous novel with plenty of mystery and action. Agent: Lyons Literary. (Jan.)