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The Delivery Mage #1
Deliver or Die
A dangerous tech warlord. A devious damsel. Is this smuggler mage getting paid or played?
Baltimore, 2055. Ex-special ops agent Kurt Carter refuses to resort to killing any longer. Though this mage isn’t above skirting the law with a little magic to smuggle goods through the interstellar portals and back to Earth, he never expected to use the Newton’s gates on a ransom mission for the ex-wife he can’t seem to forget…
With the help of a trigger-happy sidekick, Kurt has no choice but to break into a government building and steal a mysterious sarcophagus. After his ex throws an unexpected wrinkle into his plan, the smuggler mage must improvise to keep an impatient warlord at bay. Can Kurt save the girl and protect his business all without getting more blood on his hands?
Deliver or Die is the first book in The Delivery Mage series of urban fantasy novels with a touch of interstellar travel. If you like magical antiheroes, action-packed space fantasies, and unique world-building, then you’ll love Jamie Davis’s rule-bending tale.
Buy Deliver or Die to fly into a magic-filled saga today!- GenresUrban FantasyParanormal
243 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 5, 2018
94 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Jamie Davis
95 books200 followersJamie Davis is a nurse, retired paramedic, author, and nationally recognized medical educator who began teaching new emergency responders as a training officer for his local EMS program. He loves everything fantasy and sci-fi and especially the places where stories intersect with his love of medicine or gaming.
Jamie lives in a home in the woods in Maryland with his wife, three children, and dog. He is an avid gamer, preferring historical and fantasy miniature gaming, as well as tabletop games. He writes LitRPG, GameLit, urban, and contemporary paranormal fantasy stories, among other things. His Future Race Game rules were written to satisfy a desire to play a version of the pod races from Star Wars episode 1.
He loves hearing from readers and going to cons and events where he meets up with fans. Reach out and say "hi.” Visit JamieDavisBooks.com for more books, free offers and more!
Jamie lives in a home in the woods in Maryland with his wife, three children, and dog. He is an avid gamer, preferring historical and fantasy miniature gaming, as well as tabletop games. He writes LitRPG, GameLit, urban, and contemporary paranormal fantasy stories, among other things. His Future Race Game rules were written to satisfy a desire to play a version of the pod races from Star Wars episode 1.
He loves hearing from readers and going to cons and events where he meets up with fans. Reach out and say "hi.” Visit JamieDavisBooks.com for more books, free offers and more!
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
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June 5, 2022So that was a thing...
I'm amused by the world building set up of this book. Gates opening all over and providing opportunity for all kinds of stories. Apparently there are many authors who work in this universe for exactly that reason, they can all tell something different without stepping on each other's toes. It reminds me of one of the very early chat boards I was on back in college where the assumption was a nexus point in time and space and you could role play anyone or anything you wanted. So, set up works for me.
Then we get to the characters. I'm pretty okay with Kurt, Clara, and Marci, though I feel like I've seen them before. It's okay to start with characters heavy in tropes (especially in a first book), but I wanted to see them get stronger and pick up depth, and I was disappointed when we really didn't get more than a surface level glimpse. This surface level extended to the plot which was always fine, but never completely engaging or surprising. I started playing a game of 'guess what the author will do before he does it' and I was almost never wrong and I don't chalk that up to great abilities of my own. The antagonist was so shallow he didn't even get a name besides his position as "The General".
The romantic relationships and set up for upcoming romance made me a crazy person. When it comes to Kurt and Clara he's needy and desperate and a little creepy. When your ex says it's really over and she doesn't want to come home with you, let's believe her instead of coming up with all the reasons she should do what you want, huh? At no point is she reaching out romantically, which doesn't stop him from obsessing over them getting back together. Is she playing on these emotions? Damn straight. And he knows it and walks into the trouble anyway. So I have very little empathy for the manipulation.
Then we have the set up for a future relationship with Kurt and Marci and this trope of my best friend's daughter is SO SO creepy to me. I'm fine with an age gap romance, but there is an inherent power gap in the relationship of choosing a girl who has looked upto and idolized you her entire life because you are her father's best friend and have awesome powers and an awesome job. She's in love with something that isn't real, no matter how much she goes on about 'I'm a woman now. Stop looking at me like a kid.' Blah, blah, blah...other readers may not care or will think it's cute. I find it VERY creepy.
And because of these reasons, this is where the series ends for me. The stuff I like isn't nearly enough to outweigh the things I find problematic.
I'm amused by the world building set up of this book. Gates opening all over and providing opportunity for all kinds of stories. Apparently there are many authors who work in this universe for exactly that reason, they can all tell something different without stepping on each other's toes. It reminds me of one of the very early chat boards I was on back in college where the assumption was a nexus point in time and space and you could role play anyone or anything you wanted. So, set up works for me.
Then we get to the characters. I'm pretty okay with Kurt, Clara, and Marci, though I feel like I've seen them before. It's okay to start with characters heavy in tropes (especially in a first book), but I wanted to see them get stronger and pick up depth, and I was disappointed when we really didn't get more than a surface level glimpse. This surface level extended to the plot which was always fine, but never completely engaging or surprising. I started playing a game of 'guess what the author will do before he does it' and I was almost never wrong and I don't chalk that up to great abilities of my own. The antagonist was so shallow he didn't even get a name besides his position as "The General".
The romantic relationships and set up for upcoming romance made me a crazy person. When it comes to Kurt and Clara he's needy and desperate and a little creepy. When your ex says it's really over and she doesn't want to come home with you, let's believe her instead of coming up with all the reasons she should do what you want, huh? At no point is she reaching out romantically, which doesn't stop him from obsessing over them getting back together. Is she playing on these emotions? Damn straight. And he knows it and walks into the trouble anyway. So I have very little empathy for the manipulation.
Then we have the set up for a future relationship with Kurt and Marci and this trope of my best friend's daughter is SO SO creepy to me. I'm fine with an age gap romance, but there is an inherent power gap in the relationship of choosing a girl who has looked upto and idolized you her entire life because you are her father's best friend and have awesome powers and an awesome job. She's in love with something that isn't real, no matter how much she goes on about 'I'm a woman now. Stop looking at me like a kid.' Blah, blah, blah...other readers may not care or will think it's cute. I find it VERY creepy.
And because of these reasons, this is where the series ends for me. The stuff I like isn't nearly enough to outweigh the things I find problematic.
June 19, 2020
New Author for me, really fast paced and fun.
You meet Kurt Carter, his friend Marci and his ex-wife Clara. Kurt does a delivery service with special packages or special offers and Marci is the one who covers his ass although he doesn't admit to that well.
Read and enjoy!!!
You meet Kurt Carter, his friend Marci and his ex-wife Clara. Kurt does a delivery service with special packages or special offers and Marci is the one who covers his ass although he doesn't admit to that well.
Read and enjoy!!!
June 4, 2019
Fun little jaunt through dimensions
Great story. Went by too quick though. I am definitely in for the next one in the series. Great for teens and adults.
Great story. Went by too quick though. I am definitely in for the next one in the series. Great for teens and adults.
October 9, 2018
Jamie Davis‘ Deliver or Die: A Newton's Gate Series (The Delivery Mage Book 1) is a freaking brilliant mashup of science and magic, urban fantasy set in a high tech future (2055) version of Baltimore where interstellar travel is a part of life. Full of thrilling action and with a lead, Kurt Carter, who is really unique. Ex-special ops agent now specializing in “deliveries” that, umm, might not be paying close enough attention to all the pesky nuances of law. Read the publisher’s blurb for a good sense of what’s going on this time around. All I’m going to add is that it works absolutely perfectly. Great plot, superb characters (I love Jonesey the elf tech mage; and can’t believe what she paid Kurt to get delivered to her) and all wonderfully written. This is a heck of a talented writer showing his chops (showing off his talent) in a truly impressive way. Pure enjoyment. But for the fact that I’m literally dictating this review my husband from my hospital bed I could go on and on with praises - the book definitely deserves it. Since I can’t do that I will simply note that the book is most definitely one to read, and it is easy to highly recommend. I’m definitely looking forward to the next book in this series.
October 23, 2018
Book one
Mistakes: He fell Kurt to his back on the sidewalk. This was the only one that I found.
Plot: An interesting premise, but a weak story. It's all about an ex-special forces guy turned currier that gets used by his ex-wife. He is desperate to get back with her and dismissed every time she said it wasn't going to happen. Bits of Plot that should have been reveled during convention with said ex-wife are not and are pulled out when needed to move the story forward. It makes the two of them look stupid because they can't communicate. His attempts at winning her back and the way he treats his female partner shows a general lack of respect for either of the two women. He is very dismissive of them and mock surrenders anytime they start getting pissed, he never changes.
For being ex-special forces his planning is piss poor. The explanation for why he doesn't use guns isn't well thought out and is completely unbelievable for the line of work he is in.
Characters: the MC is rather stupid. The ex-wife uses people for her own ends. The only interesting one was relegated to sidekick. She is the only reason ANYTHING gets done in this book.
4.5/10
Mistakes: He fell Kurt to his back on the sidewalk. This was the only one that I found.
Plot: An interesting premise, but a weak story. It's all about an ex-special forces guy turned currier that gets used by his ex-wife. He is desperate to get back with her and dismissed every time she said it wasn't going to happen. Bits of Plot that should have been reveled during convention with said ex-wife are not and are pulled out when needed to move the story forward. It makes the two of them look stupid because they can't communicate. His attempts at winning her back and the way he treats his female partner shows a general lack of respect for either of the two women. He is very dismissive of them and mock surrenders anytime they start getting pissed, he never changes.
For being ex-special forces his planning is piss poor. The explanation for why he doesn't use guns isn't well thought out and is completely unbelievable for the line of work he is in.
Characters: the MC is rather stupid. The ex-wife uses people for her own ends. The only interesting one was relegated to sidekick. She is the only reason ANYTHING gets done in this book.
4.5/10
January 20, 2021
Ok premise, but comes off a little flat
I found the plot a little far-fetched and the story line didn’t flow well for me. How the main character, Kurt, manages to miraculously recover from getting the snot beat out of him to go forth and get the snot beat out of him again is a mystery - but then, so is the strange mix of science fiction and fantasy that is the basis of the book. The book also suffers from some editing and proofreading problems. (You don’t staunch a flow of blood, for instance - you stanch it, and missing punctuation and missing or misplaced quotes abound.) I would have given it another star if not for those kinds of errors.
I found the plot a little far-fetched and the story line didn’t flow well for me. How the main character, Kurt, manages to miraculously recover from getting the snot beat out of him to go forth and get the snot beat out of him again is a mystery - but then, so is the strange mix of science fiction and fantasy that is the basis of the book. The book also suffers from some editing and proofreading problems. (You don’t staunch a flow of blood, for instance - you stanch it, and missing punctuation and missing or misplaced quotes abound.) I would have given it another star if not for those kinds of errors.
October 5, 2018
This author has started a new series in my absolute favorite genre, and I love it! Set slightly in the future, Kurt is a delivery mage who won’t resort to killing because of something that happened while he was in the military. Too bad those he works with don’t have that problem. I loved this series starter, especially Jonesey the Elf. She was a very interesting character, and I laughed out loud at the end when we found out what she was so anxious to get her hands on (now only if I can get my hands on the same thing)! The only thing that really bothered me was Kurt’s fascination with this ex-wife: get over her, man; she isn’t worth it! I loved this book, and if you like urban fantasy with some great action, give this one a try! Highly recommend! I was provided the e-book which I voluntarily reviewed.
October 15, 2018
Interestingly enough, this book reminds me a lot of the Stephanie Plumb books, only in this one, it's delivering things instead of finding people, or perhaps some kind of hopped up Kiki's delivery service, if Kiki were an adult, and her service crossed dimensional boundaries. Either way, it's an interesting tale, and one I'd not hesitate to recommend to others.
June 15, 2020
Like The Transporter: You never open the package!
Loaded with action. I like the characters in this book, especially Marcie. She kicks rear. There are adventures within adventures in this story. I'm glad there are more books in the series available, I am eager to read more!
Loaded with action. I like the characters in this book, especially Marcie. She kicks rear. There are adventures within adventures in this story. I'm glad there are more books in the series available, I am eager to read more!
January 18, 2022
This book was great! I'm only taking off a star, because Jamie needs a better editor! There were several mistakes here that made me go "Huh? . . . OH! That's what he meant!"
Aside from that, great story! Looking forward to getting my hands on book 2!
Aside from that, great story! Looking forward to getting my hands on book 2!
August 13, 2022
Really fun characters
This book had a lot of action, across multiple realities, included interesting and fun characters, as well as lots of detailed descriptions to fill out the universe the characters live in. I recommend this book.
This book had a lot of action, across multiple realities, included interesting and fun characters, as well as lots of detailed descriptions to fill out the universe the characters live in. I recommend this book.
January 4, 2019
This was a fun book, the first of a series. I'll definitely check into more of Kurt and Marci's adventures.
June 28, 2020
Book 1 - A nice start
This was a good fast paced read. Not too short of extreme in length. Perfect for those who like adventure of stories in other worlds.
This was a good fast paced read. Not too short of extreme in length. Perfect for those who like adventure of stories in other worlds.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews