A Song with Teeth

Frohock delivers her signature blend of magic, music, and WWII history in the vivid, complex finale to her Los Nefilim series (after Carved from Stone and Dream). Los Nefilim, a group of immortals who monitor demonic activity in the mortal plane, hope to aid the resistance in Vichy, France. To get a sense of what they’re up against, they send the half-angelic, half-demonic Diago Alvarez to infiltrate his demon father’s Scorpion Court. There, Diago quickly learns that the court’s quest to control the mortal realm may spell the end for humanity. Meanwhile, nefil Ysabel Ramirez searches for a magical psalm that will give the Allies a sure win at Normandy. But before she can find it, she’s captured by her conniving uncle. Frohock’s character work is on point: Ysabel is confident and clever, and Diago is delightfully conflicted between the two sides of his heritage. Though the horrors of war and the Holocaust are on display, Frohock’s usually adept mixture of fantasy and history occasionally feels trivializing here, as in the saccharine scene in which Diago conjures up the despair of concentration camp prisoners to feed his music. Still, Frohock’s urgent prose keeps the pages turning. Series fans will find plenty to enjoy. (Feb.)