Veiled by Benedict Jacka

National bestselling author Benedict Jacka returns to the world of Alex Verus... I thought I’d escaped my past. But my old master is back and making a new play for power. And he’s not the only one targeting me… Diviner Alex Verus and the Council that governs the magical community have never gotten along. But with his former teacher back in Britain, Alex is in desperate need of allies, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get them—even if it means accepting a job with the Keepers, enforcing magical law. Alex forms an uneasy alliance with his new partner, Caldera, but his attempt at legitimacy quickly turns lethal when a mission puts him in possession of an item that factions both inside and outside of the Council would kill to get their hands on. Once again caught in the middle of a deadly conflict, Alex will need all his abilities to figure out who his friends are—especially when enemies are hiding on all sides…

CAWPILE SCORE
C-8
A-7
W-8
P-8
I-8
L-8
E-8
TOTAL-/10

CAWPILECharactersHakan, Caldera, Landus, VihaelyaNo Sonder-in America.Mostly just Alex this time. Getting in with the keepersChalice the Chance MageAtmosphereWritingSkilled use to keep suspense up without feeling frustrating.PlotA tricky plot full of betrayals all around. Verus working with the keepers is investigating a fight. Finds a Data Storage. Sparks off war between Council and White Rose. Everything is in chaosInvestmentAlways worried about whats going to happen to Alex and crew.LogicEverything makes sense. I'm never left feeling like I'm missing somethingEnjoymentI can't not enjoy these books.Misc
I will be talking about it on Libromancy https://libromancy.podbean.com/ on 07/24/2022

Levistus is the worst!

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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This was not at all what I expected going in to this (granted, I only read the first couple of lines of the Publisher's Description) – sure, I knew Alex's mouth would get him in trouble, he'd have to outwit someone more powerful than him, Luna would be underused – despite Alex depending on his friends to pull him out of trouble.

What I didn't expect was Alex Verus vs. Bureaucracy, not the catchiest of titles, but pretty accurate. Don't get me wrong, it's not like the Star Wars prequels with all the bureaucracy, trade negotiations, etc. Jacka keeps things tense, keeps things interesting, even as what Alex is battling is really just Office Politics (along with other kinds of politics).

Alex tries to take one more step towards credibility, of shedding his Dark mage past (not that almost anyone will let him), to a position where he can do some good, and hopefully have allies when Richard steps out into the limelight. Long-term, strategic thinking – I like it when UF heroes act like that. It's brains, not brawn, that carry the day here.

This isn't to suggest, that this is a dry – or combat-free – book. Alex gets down and dirty, as usual – against some pretty tough characters. But, I'm not convinced that the worst people that Alex and his friends went up against were the ones wearing the Black Hats. Not that they were angels, but, man, there were some nasty people in these pages.

There are some really interesting developments with Luna's training and development. Alex makes a couple of useful allies – including a combat mage who is quite possibly the most entertaining character in the series thus far. And because that's never enough for him – Alex picks up one new enemy and deepens tensions with another.

And Richard? Well, something tells me that specter's going to be looming for a bit longer. But then again, I thought we were going to get a few more Kitty Norville books and that we'd see Richard in action here – so what do I know?

I seem to be mostly rambling here, so I'm just going to say: Alex Verus is a character you should get to know, in a series that should be on your TBR list. I wouldn't start with this one, I really think Fated is where you want to climb aboard.