In Too Deep: Book One of the Looking Glass Trilogy (An Arcane Society Novel) is as the title says, part of a trilogy by Jayne Ann Krentz. It is excellent, one of the best fantasy / mystery / suspense / romance /mysteries I’ve read. Krentz writes under the names Amanda Quick and Jayne Castle, specializes in books that combine paranormal romance with suspense and does it masterfully.
I finished this in a couple evenings as it is a fast read, albeit one you need to pay attention to. There are abundant characters, including some who appear minor but end up being central to the story, plus our two primary characters Fallon Jones and Isabella Valdez.
Jones owns the paranormal investigative agency Jones and Jones and does extensive work for the Arcane Society. Part of their charter is to deal with criminals who use paranormal methods or weapons for murder. Isabella’s parents and grandmother were conspiracy theorists who could construct a plausible but dopey theory out of thin air to account for anything. She was raised completely off the records, no birth certificate, no school record. Jones is a by-the-books (using his book) guy who is also a strong paranormal talent.
Together Jones and Isabella must confront paranormal weapons from Victorian England, defeat a serial murderer, solve the mystery of who is behind the illicit paranormal weapons sales and yes, clear Fallon’s name and reinstate Jones and Jones as credible assets for the Arcane Society.
This is a tall order and in their spare time Isabella and Fallon fall in love. The love story is well done, fits seamlessly into the story. It isn’t one of those books where the author says “Hmmm. Need a dose of romance here. Where’s my love interest?”
Well Written
All the sub plots, plots, characters, settings work together. You don’t see loose ends or silly byways. The dialogue is well done, with people speaking like real people do in every day conversation. The character Walter doesn’t speak much other than inside his own head, but even that makes sense.
Part of a Series
I read the second book in the series, Quicksilver: Book Two of the Looking Glass Trilogy already. It was set about 100 years earlier than this one and was also good but not as believable or as interesting as In Too Deep.
From the reviews on Amazon, most people liked this with a few complaining about slow action or lack of believable emotions. I didn’t see that; the book read and felt to me like the people genuinely cared for each other. The villains were villainous and the revenge seekers were torn between what they knew they should do and what they wanted to do.
Apparently Jayne Krentz wrote several novels featuring Fallon Jones and the Arcane Society. I will see them out.
Five stars.
Leave a Reply