Disappearing Nightly
Esther Diamond Series, Book 1
Laura Resnick

Daw Books, Inc
June 2012 / 978-0756407667
Fantasy
Amazon

Reviewed by Jan Fields

Esther Diamond is used to weird: she's an actress in New York City. But when the star of the show Esther is in disappears for real in the middle of a magic trick on stage, Esther soon encounters things that test even her New York City tolerance for weirdness. She meets Maximillian Zadok, an eccentric wizard whose job is to protect the city from evil. It's a big job and may be more than he can handle without Esther's rather quirky help. It seems magic acts all over the city are getting a special boost -- when the beautiful assistants vanish, they really vanish. Now Esther has to find the answer to the problem before it's her turn to step into the disappearing box. Though the ultimate menace is as big and bad as any you'll run across in urban fantasy, Laura Resnick never lets her protagonist or her story take itself too seriously. Esther is like a slightly klutzy Buffy the Vampire slayer, all grown up -- and the humor can truly make you laugh out loud. I also enjoyed Esther's potential love interest in the series, the completely bewitched Detective Lopez. This book moves as breakneck speed, with plenty of twists, surprises and giggles. This is definitely a series that will hook you on the first book and send you out searching for the rest. I know it did that for me.

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