Re read with my fellow Ilona Andrews Addicts 
 Kate Daniels is a mercenary for cleaning up magical problems. 
 She lives in a world where magic and technology once used to exist in a harmonious balance, but then technological progress was pushed too far, and now magic is back with a vengeance, coming and going in unpredictable waves, as it pleases. When magic is up, guns don't fire and cars stall, and when tech is up, spells don't work. 
 The world is full of weird and scary creatures, there are vampires, mindless killer machines, that can be controlled via necromancy by a so called navigator, there are shapeshifters, and all sorts of cults. 
 When Kate's guardian, the closest she still had to a family, is murdered, she takes matters into her own hand and heads out to find his killer in Kate-manner*: 
 *"You know anything about investigative work?" 
 "Sure. Annoy the people involved until the guilt party tries to make you go away." 
 If I had to describe this book in a single word, that word would be refreshing, even though it gets quite gory at times. It is a quick and easy read, and the thing I liked the most about the heroine is, she knows all the rules, but she doesn't play by them anyways. 
 Her big mouth and her authority issues keep on getting her into trouble and make for some really fancy dialogues. 
 The characters are well written and I'm looking forward to reading the other books in the series. 
 The world could have done with some more explanations but then understanding it was not relevant to the plot. 
 Final rating: 3.5 stars.