How to Catch a Magical

by Samuel Thews

If you want to catch a Magical, you have to go about it the right way. You have to have the right tools, the right training, a certain disregard for danger and a flair for the dramatic. Oh, and it helps if you inherit your father’s wicked bounty hunter skills, which give you superhuman reflexes and senses. It’s really hard without the last one. Andromeda Nyx has all the skills to be a successful bounty hunter. But after five years of training and catching nothing but Flinks–the lowest-level Magicals, the kind that think it’s funny to steal just one sock from a pair and hide it somewhere in the garden–she’s itching for bigger game. When her mentor says going out on her own to catch a Sprite is too risky, she decides to freelance. When the Sprite she catches turns out to be a messenger, Nyx is chosen as an ambassador for the bounty hunters and must travel to the decrepit world of the Magicals, Himnara. While there, she is informed of a plot by Arcanus Emerson Kain—the leader of a rogue sect of Magicals—to invade Earth for a seemingly bizarre he wants to steal people. Along with her mentor Ridge, Nyx must find a way to stop Kain before his power becomes too great.

252 pages, Paperback

First published October 5, 2013

About the author

I love to read and write. My reading encompasses just about everything whereas my writing is fixed within the fantasy and paranormal realm, particularly for younger MG/YA readers as writing these is the most fun!

I also love the outdoors and enjoy living in a small neighborhood in the woods of North Carolina with my beautiful wife and daughter and our four (that's right FOUR) cats.

Reviews

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Phenomenal Heroine in Paranormal Adventure

Samuel Thews writes a rousing tale of magic, bounty hunters and war. I suspect that I like my teenage heroines to always be confident and either compassionate and positive, or cynical, violent and jaded. This one was the latter type, and Thews did a phenomenal job portraying a rich, abandoned kid of above average intelligence with a strong will to survive.

Andromeda Nyx came into her powers at ten and was subsequently trained as a hunter of magicals at fourteen. She was already breaking the rules at boarding school by age ten, and continued to break them during training. While she has obvious talent, she needs seasoning, but no red blooded teenager will wait for that, so she breaks a few more rules. This lands her in a risky, high-profile mission. At this point, the book goes into high gear.

The entire book is from Andromeda's POV, and while some is train of thought, most is a matter of fact description of what's going on, as if she is talking directly to you in parts of the story. The entire school drama part was cut out, as she primarily dealt with adults in her line of work, and therefore conversations and interactions are fairly mature. I am not a teen, so I found the lack of silliness refreshing, but these books aren't aimed at me as the optimum target audience, so if you like all of that, I would still urge you to give this book a try.

Andromeda is a complex character, as are her Father and some of the others in the story. My favorites, outside of Andromeda, was Whitchurch. He was a charming, crazy and wild old bounty hunter that Andromeda meets in an enemy prison. Between his wit, his skills, his experience, his brilliance and his caring, he is just a wonderful person. The nude fishing and other zany things make him a bit crazy.

You have got to give this story a try. I zipped through it, nonstop. Wish I could give it 4.5 stars, but I can't! Decided on 4 because at fourteen, few girls act like adults. Very small, niggling complaint. The story is a good thumping read. Recommended!

[Marsha Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave it a try. Really, I did. Got about halfway through and deleted it from my iPhone.