New Tricks (A Dog Days Novel)

I figured it out early too, but it was a fun ride to see how it was going to end. Usually books have some off-the-wall minor character be the bad guy. This book was as good as the first and I am going to start Unleashed ASAP.

This book , "New Tricks",second in the series, was really a good urban mystery book. The first book is called, "Dog Days". The characters Mason,and his Ifrit,(a dog "familiar" of sorts),Lou, kept me in my seat till the last page. I call this book an urban fantasy, for it takes place in the city streets of San Francisco. Mason, a Jazz musician, is also a man with special magical powers who gets sucked up in helping his friends get in and out of magical trouble. There is more out there in the city, than one would think. Make no mistake, this book is not a cozy. This book has some grit to it. The characters are flawed ,and not everything works out perfectly. I jumped into reading this mystery with my eyes open and wasn't let down with its plot or its characters. Which covers a multitude of creatures and, just plain weird people. This book was well written, as is his third book in this series, "Unleashed". I hope to read more of John Levitt's books in the future.

Picking up not long after "Dog Days" left off, "New Tricks" zooms along much like its predecessor, from one cleverly wacky scene to the next. Mason is an unusual yet likeable MC, rarely taking anything too seriously until it's too late. Then he is forced to use his subtle yet considerable talents to save himself and anyone else around in need of saving. You can't help but root for him, even when he does something stupid -- which is self-admittedly quite often. Levitt's prose is flawlessly clean and simple, and his descriptions of magical encounters rank with some of the best out there. By the time you've finished reading "New Tricks," magic seems entirely believable. Heck, it makes you want to go out and try some for yourself. (Didn't work for me, but it might for you. :) ) If you're into urban fantasy, you can't lose with "New Tricks." -- Jim Melvin, author of The Death Wizard Chronicles

Mason is a kind of anti- practitioner. He is reluctant at best, he would rather play jazz music and chill out. So when he gets another problem presented to him, he does so with reluctance. When other practicioners come up dead, he starts investigating. Old friends show up and soon he finds out all is not as it seems to be. Something is not adding up, black practioners come into the mix, and what is truth and who is causing the deaths bugs mason. Soon he is up to his eyeballs in trouble.. bridge people are not whom they seem to be, Ifrits are not what he thought and where did they come from anyhow??? this is another great installment in the Mason and Louie series.. entertaining and fun, this is second in the series and ends with questions and a teaser for another

New Tricks is just as good as Dog Days, the first in Levitt's series. Mason's character is a bit more developed and you get to know him better. The plot is another winner, and so are the characters. I particularly enjoy Levitt's conversational first person writing style. So many authors are caught in the mode of "old school" writing but Levitt proves that this more casual approach makes the story intimate and realistic. I look forward to the next in the series.