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Industrial Magic is the fourth novel in the Women of the Otherworld series. It is narrated by Paige Winterbourne.

Synopsis[]

Think your in-laws are scary? Try meeting Paige Winterbourne's potential father-in-law: CEO of the Cortez Cabal, a multinational corporation...and the supernatural equivalent of the Mafia.

Lucas Cortez has devoted his life to ruining the Cabals, though that doesn’t stop his father from expecting him to take over the family business someday. Benicio’s favorite ploy is to appeal to Lucas’s quixotic ideals by asking him to investigate Cabal cases of injustice.

After years of failure, Benicio finally has the perfect case: a teenage witch attacked and left for dead. Refusing will be difficult enough for Lucas...near impossible for his new witch girlfriend. Paige and Lucas soon discover that the young witch wasn't the first Cabal teenager attacked.

When the infighting among the Cabals threatens to let the killer continue his spree, Paige and Lucas decide it’s up to them to stop him. The chase takes them on a cross-country hunt through the supernatural world, where allies can be found in the strangest places, including a celebrity necromancer, a wise-cracking Celtic deity, a pissed-off ghost, a half-mad clairvoyant, and a group of vampires who’d really rather be in an Anne Rice novel.

Plot[]

The story starts with the attack upon Dana MacArthur, daughter of a Cabal employee. Dismayed by her inability to persuade other witches to form a new coven because of their disapproval of her relationship with Lucas Cortez, Paige Winterbourne is not entirely happy to find his father - Benicio Cortez - on her doorstep with news of the new case.

Lucas and Paige decide to travel to Miami to visit his father and introduce Paige to the family, as well as to hear further details about the attack. They discover that Dana's is only one of a series of similar attacks upon the children of Cabal employees. That night another child, the son of Benicio's bodyguard is killed. The father, Griffin, asks Paige and Lucas to investigate.

Concerned about Savannah, they arrange for her to stay with the werewolf Pack. They then arrange to meet up with Jaime Vegas, a necromancer. Jaime manages to contact Dana, who is believed to be in a coma, getting what details she can from her about the attack. In the process she discovers the girl is dead.

Investigation leads them to the home of Everett Weber. They are unable to find him, but do find a lot of encrypted computer files. Paige breaks the code to reveal a list of the children of Cabal employees. They track down Weber, but before they can persuade him to come with him peacefully, a Cabal SWAT team cause a hostage situation. Paige is injured and Everett taken into custody.

The trial results in Weber's swift execution, but almost immediately another child is killed - the grandson of Thomas Nast.

Jaime, Lucas and Paige go out to the swamp where Weber would be buried to contact him. They meet Esus. He gives them details about the man who hired Weber. When they continue to investigate, they start to be plagued by a ghost, but Jaime struggles to contact it. Eventually, they discover that the ghost is that of a vampire.

Their search leads them to the home of Edward and Natasha, two immortality-quester vampires. Natasha has been killed, she is the ghost, and Edward is looking for revenge. They set a trap, but it backfires. Lucas is shot, and both he and Paige find themselves in the land of the dead. There Paige meets Savannah's mother, Eve, who guides her. The Fates offer them a choice, and their decision returns them to the land of the living, where they find the werewolves have begun to search for them.

A trap is set for Edward at a charity ball, but it goes wrong. Jaime is kidnapped and Benicio ignores the plan in order to save his son. Jeremy, Savannah and Paige help to save everyone. Benicio executes Edward.

Characters[]

Major Characters[]

Members of the Cortez Cabal[]

Other Characters[]

Deaths[]

  • Edward Hagen - Vampire lover of the now deceased Natasha, both immortality questers.
  • Jacob - Son of Griffin
  • Dana MacArthur - Witch, Daughter of Randy MacArthur
  • Joey Nast - Grandson of Thomas Nast. Killed outside courthouse after Everett's execution.
  • Stephen St. Cloud - Son of Lionel St Cloud
  • Matthew Tucker - 19 year old son of Lionel St Cloud's personal assistant
  • Everett Weber - Druid and Cabal Computer specialist. Executed by Cabals after being found (incorrectly) guilty of attacks on Cabal children.

Publication[]

See also: Goodreads - Editions of Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong

Industrial Magic was first published in 2004 by Viking Press (Canada). It has been republished numerous times across multiple formats, including a 2014 reissue by Bantam.

Translated Editions[]

  • French: Magie d'Entreprise ("Business Magic")
  • Spanish: Algo más que magia ("Something more than magic")
  • German: Pakt der Hexen ("Pact of Witches")

Alternate Covers[]

References[]

Otherworld Series
Women of the Otherworld Novels
BittenStolenDime Store MagicIndustrial MagicHauntedBrokenNo Humans InvolvedPersonal DemonLiving With The DeadWaking the WitchSpell BoundThirteen
Collections
Men of the OtherworldTales of the OtherworldOtherworld NightsOtherworld SecretsOtherworld ChillsLed Astray
Novellas
SavageAscensionChaoticAngelicCounterfeit MagicThe Case of El Chupacabra, BeginningsBewitchedForbiddenHiddenVanishing ActThe Ungrateful Dead
Short Stories
V PlatesThe ListChivalrousLucifer's DaughterLearning CurveLife SentenceTwilightZen and the Art of VampirismParanormal Romance BluesStalkedRebirthInfusionKitsunegariDemonologyBirthrightThe Case of the Half-Demon SpyExpectationsTruth and ConsequencesTerritorialGhostsEscapeWedding Bell HellAdventurerBargainFramedBamboozledYoung Bloods
Graphic Novels
BecomingBounty Hunt
Kate & Logan
Wolf's BaneWolf's Curse
  1. Characters note that the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center happened last month.
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