Quicksilver by Amanda Quick

Synopsis: Virginia Dean wakes at midnight beside a dead body, with a bloody knife in her hand and no memory of the evening's events. Dark energy emanating from the mirrors lining the room, overpowers her senses. With no apparent way in or out, she's rescued by a man she's only met once before, but won't soon forget...

... Owen Sweetwater inherited his family's talent for hunting the psychical monsters who prey on London's women and children, and his investigation into the deaths of two glass-readers has led him here. The high-society types of the exclusive Arcane Society would consider Virginia an illusionist, a charlatan, even a criminal. But Owen knows better, Virginia's powers are real -- and so is the power she exerts over him simply with her presence. And if her abilities can be relied upon in the midst of great danger, they just might be the key to his investigation.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book for the most part but it wasn't a favorite though. It really started out great. Very thrillerish. I really liked the mystery of who was killing the glass light readers and the chemistry between Virginia and Owen was excellent but very little is really said about Owen's psychical gift other than he can kill with it if he chooses and that he isn't really a Hunter but does have some characteristics.

I thought so much time was focused on the investigation and the connection between the two characters that the characters themselves somehow suffered for it. I liked that Owen was a Sweetwater because the mysterious Sweetwater family is mentioned later in the Jayne Ann Krentz installments of the series but the air of mystery surrounding the Sweetwater family is somewhat explained but not to the degree I was satisfied with.

The ending was wrapped up a bit too quickly and the last few paragraphs felt almost pointless to me. I think I would have preferred an ending that had both Virginia and Owen going into business together like Jones and Jones. I think it would have made for a better ending than something along the lines of and they gazed lovingly into each other eyes and knew their love would last a lifetime. Now that isn't how it really ended but you get the idea.

Oh and the title refers to something called the Quicksilver Mirror which is an alchemical weapon of sorts that anyone with a degree of psychical talent could use against another talent to blind that other person's talent to the point of permanent if they wanted. So the device was used. Virginia investigated the mirror. It was discussed briefly and then nothing else was said about it. This happened about 3/4 of the way into the book. It lasted a chapter or maybe two then....nothing. So weird.

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