
Royal Street by Suzanne Johnson
Royal Street, by Suzanne Johnson, is the first in a new urban fantasy series set in New Orleans. Drusilla Jaco, a.k.a. DJ, is one of the city’s two wizard sentinels, which means she’s assigned to keep an eye on paranormal trouble in town. The other sentinel is Gerry, Drusilla’s mentor and father figure. With Hurricane Katrina on the way, DJ evacuates while Gerry stays behind. When the storm passes, DJ returns to a devastated New Orleans to find Gerry missing, new breaches opened between this world and the Beyond, and a serial killer who leaves voodoo paraphernalia at the scenes of the crimes.
Johnson’s world-building is great — both the real and the invented. She takes us right into New Orleans immediately pre- and post-Katrina and gives us an idea of what it was like to be there. As for the invented, there are some original touches here in terms of the magic. Johnson intr... Read More