Dark Pawn is a well written, fast paced, hugely enjoyable urban fantasy. Leah Ackerman, its 15 year old protagonist, loses both her parents to a demon – and then very quickly gets drawn into a centuries old battle between the forces of light and the forces of hell. Can she learn how to use her newly discovered powers before the demons come for her? Or will her rage and her grief tempt her into using the darker side of her abilities, putting both herself and her fellow warriors in mortal danger?
Leah is a strong, sassy, no-nonsense heroine, and yet her weaknesses, and her struggles to overcome them, are well depicted and tie neatly into the developing plot. Other characters are distinctive and well drawn, although a few of Leah’s fellow teenagers are less vividly realised – I’d hope to see them develop in subsequent books. Their dialogue, and that of the demons, also often verges on the clichéd, which can sometimes detract from the immediacy of the story.
The action of this book is relentless, real edge-of-the-seat stuff, and very powerfully described. While the subject matter is far from original, the authors have managed to put a novel slant on the magic employed by the characters, tying it into the Jewish mystical system of the Kabbalah with economical explanation but obvious depth. The structure of chess is also used to great effect, and I look forward to seeing how these ideas are developed as Leah’s journey continues.
While Dark Pawn is very well edited, I’d have liked to have seen just one more editorial pass made to tighten up a few minor problems of pacing and plot. All in all, however, this is a gripping, atmospheric and genuinely scary story, with a well rounded and relatable protagonist, plenty of unexpected quirks, and a satisfying conclusion to what promises to be an increasingly exciting series. I award Dark Pawn a strong 4.5 stars.
