Black Spark (Dark Magic Enforcer Book 1)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters are interesting and believable, the story is engaging and well-paced, the wiring is detailed and rich with imagery, and the action is fun and makes the book hard to put down.

I was surprised at some of the other reviews Thay said that the dialog was tortured or the wiring was redundant. I didn't find it so at all. Some of the metaphors are interestingly-chosen, but for me that made it fresh and fun. The author is not afraid to poke some fun at his characters and at the genre, but that is typical and expected in modern fantasy and was not overdone at all.

I liked Black Spark enough to read the rest of the series, and it's worthwhile to do that. The books only get better as I go.

Spark is the magic enforcer for the Hidden, a group of people that where either born of magic or people who have learned to use magic. They live in the world with us, some are people and some are creatures of myths. Magic enforcers must take care of those who use magic in the wrong manner or make it where it could too easily be noticed by normal humans. Sparks best friend is a new vampire, only 3 years into her vampire life. Kate is his whole world but hes too chicken to let her know. He has spent the majority of his adult life or over 100 years as an enforcer and knows no other life. After his parents were killed by vampires it takes everything he is to work with them in an manner so saving, Kate has been a new thing to both him and his grandma. Kate is a beauty both inside and out. So out of Sparks normal ways and if it were up to him Kate and he would be a couple but he is a bit of a chicken when it comes to relationships and woman that don't just need a lil something something, now hes been sent to destroy one of the most powerful woman on earth and hes just not sure how it will work out. From the beginning of the story he finds himself with a day or so of amnesia, he kills a grand master chess player in the middle of a park for the whole world to see. He has broken the Hidden laws. Now if he can keep himself out of trouble, haha, him staying out of trouble is like him confronting Kate for a real date almost impossible. Good read kept me reading and kept it to where you can believe this is truly a guy telling his own story!

I found this book quite enjoyable and it reminded me of the Dresden files with its style but I do have a few complaints. First of all the description of the side effects of the magic use was over used, not a big deal but still there. Second ,and this is just a me thing, but I wanted the MC to just start clobbering heads almost the whole time. I understand that's not in his character, at least for now, but it would have been immensely satisfying to read about him putting the hurt on some vamps I'm not gonna name. Thirdly and lastly and this might sound ridiculous THE BOOK COVER! For some reason it looks hilarious and silly to me, just his facial expression combined with the clothing and stance are just killing me even now. But all in all a good book and one I would definitely recommend.

As others have mentioned, there is so much potential with this book, so much story to tell. But the writing left so much to be desired. In the same paragraph, on at least three occasions, the author repeated information. Also did we seriously need to be introduced to everu magical creature in this first book? Leave some learning, some mystery for future books! I might give the author another chance but only because I enjoy the world so much

I really like his Wildcat Wizard series, but this was a little hard for me to get into. Fez wasn't very likeable, strange, or anything to make me want to follow him or his story. But, I will say this is a very different take on the supernatural and I do appreciate the creativity that went into that aspect of the story.

I was a good book but like another reviewer posted it was a somewhat wordy. Like 10 percent action, 30 percent plot and 60 percent general talk and background. Hopefully the next book will reverse the plot and talk numbers. It was good enough I will read the next book. I liked the humor in the story and the book moved fast once I skipped over most of the verbiage that wasn't relevant to the story.

Faz is a wizard enforcer for the Council.He takes out the bad guys that gets out of line or those who might make the normal world aware that there is magic and things that go bump in the night.I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next.One suggestion to the author,use the word standing instead of stood as you did several times in this book.One will be standing on an object,not stood on one.

Well done! The main character is interesting enough that I care about what happens to him even if he whines a bit make changes about how badly using magic hurts. He is pretty up front about it being an addiction though so I can forgive him. The story moves along well with very little downtime between scenes that matter where still explaining enough about the world the chars live in that you can understand what is happening and why.

All in all, a well done first chapter in a series of urban fantasy that is recommended to everyone.

The series thus far has offered a firm entertaining read. The well traveled storyline: magic, faeries , vamps and assorted usual suspect's have refreshing story bits. And I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptive "expressions " thrown around here and there . The series had potential to provide many hours of interesting rides.

I was expecting a Harry Dresden imitation, what I got was darker, more intense, and twisted realities. I really enjoyed this book to the point of dreaming what's next when not reading. The Idea that magic hurts puts a twist on everything. To be an enforcer knowing the pain to come is a switch. Excellent reading. I look forward to the next novel.

The story and world the author has created are intriguing, which is great, because otherwise I would have put this one down and given up on it. I've made is 70% of the way through solely because I'm curious to see how it ends.

However, this book is in serious need of an editor, to the point it becomes difficult to read and to stay focused on the story.

As other reviewers have said, the writing is quite repetitive. The pacing is off; problems are resolved too easily and it's unclear for a large part of the book which is the main plotline. The author breaks grammatical rules in ways that come across as sloppy rather than a stylistic choice (see: the numerous comma splices). The dialogue is stilted and often cringe-worthy, and character flit in and out of the story seemingly without purpose.

The overall effect of the lack of editing and poor writing is that the main character, who is supposed to be an experienced Dark Magic Enforcer, comes across as immature, childish, and flaky... and even in a world filled with imps and vampires, I found it hard to suspend my disbelief enough to believe that this guy would be given responsibility for the kinds of crucial events that carry the plot.

So, I'll finish the book to satisfy my own curiosity, but I cannot recommend it and will not be continuing the series unless I find out that the rest of the series has received hefty red pen treatment.

Full disclosure – I received a free copy of this book from the author as part of his “A-Team” and voluntarily chose to leave a review.

Faz Pound; “Black Spark” to those who love him and hate him, is a Dark Magic Enforcer. For those who are part of the Hidden world of magic, he is one of many who keep both human and non-human magic users in line so the magic stays hidden to the regular world and their existence is not exposed. He’s good at what he does… probably the best... but he just screwed up.

After coming to his senses in a city park with no recollection of how he got there and no memory of who or what he is, Faz realizes that he has just used dark magic to kill the local Chessmaster. The very secret he is charged with protecting and preserving, he has just exposed. Now the race is on to undo what he has done to save his skin and the entire Hidden world.

But how do you do that? Can you really “un-kill” someone?

With the help of his Vampire friend/girlfriend, a wily Necromancer and an unwilling and unsavory “babysitter” in tow… just to keep him in line, Faz sets out to find out what happened to him and reverse his mistake.

This story starts fast and doesn’t slow down and as far as mythical creatures go, there are plenty. Vampires, Zombies, Succubi, Fae, Trolls, Dwarves… the only thing that was missing were Werewolves and Dragons, although I don’t doubt we may see them soon.

I love the concept of each area of the world having their own conclave of sorts of ultimate magical beings basically acting as the governing bodies of the hidden and the “enforcers” as the police network to track and apprehend those who abuse or otherwise misuse their power. While the concept of the magical world existing in tandem with the nonmagical world with the latter completely unaware of the former is not a new concept, this book definitely explores it in a way that is less innocent and has more substance.

All in all, a great read. Looking forward to the next in the series!

I barely made it through the first 2 chapters. The writing style is horrible! It's very "preachy", like some know it all telling you all about something that makes no sense. There are endless repetitive details in a "let me tell YOU, miss!" way that is extremely off putting. It was all over the place and never got to the point of anything, the story really didn't feel like it was moving in ANY discernible direction, with no promise that it ever would. I gave up and didn't finish.

I found this book to be entertaining with some inventiveness. I would actually rate it at 3.5 stars, but since I can't give fractions of stars I think that it deserves to be rated up rather than down.

Truly enjoyed Black Spark by Al K. Line. Found the story well written and the character fun in a introspective, tongue-in-cheek way. Read the next two novels and I am looking forward to the fourth, Guilty Spark.

Loved this book and series - I went through the all in less than a week. Great characters, solid plots and surprising endings, coupled with a new take on the genre made this a great read. I highly recommend it!!

Also, for the grammar police, it was well edited for a Kindle Unlimited book - for any book really. ;)

Love the writing style, it's very well written and the characters have a life of their own. It's an interesting take on the supernatural world that I've never come across before. My only complaint is there aren't more books in the series out.

Lots of action. Lots of attitude and some interesting views on the world as we see it. And how it really may be!
I'll be reading the rest of the series assuming there will be more.
Highly recommended if you like this genre.

Some awfully wordy descriptions of some of the concepts in the narrative. I had a tendency to lose track of the plot at times. The second one in the series is better Once you have the idea of the characteristics of all the species groups behind you.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing flows is lite and effortless to read. The storybis not bogged down with any unneeded side tagents and forced love story. Liked it so much, i bought the second book.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing flows is lite and effortless to read. The storybis not bogged down with any unneeded side tagents and forced love story. Liked it so much, i bought the second book.

The main character tells his story in a delightful, almost crazy, way. His relationship with all the other characters is clear and funny. Looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Right now.

There are interesting concepts, but it needs serious editing and probably a third of the book is explaining and/or naming things we've already seen and could be excised. The dialogue isn't great and similes and metaphors are piled on top of each other until they lose all meaning. The author doesn't seem to have a great grasp of the worldbuilding; in one chapter the vampire clans are too powerful for the spellcaster clans to anger, but a couple of chapters later it's the other way around. Faeries have immutable laws that are always enforced and have been since the beginning of time, except when they suddenly aren't. The man character is equally contradictory. One minute he's telling us how he doesn't kill unless he has an incredibly good reason, and the next he's decided to kill a vampire because it annoys him with its smugness. (Which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on how powerful the vampire clans are this chapter. At one point his spellcaster mentor is telling him not to anger the vampires, and a couple of chapters later is telling him to off his vampire observer whenever convenient.) The main plotline involves the titular Dark Spark, Faz Pound, being sent on assignment to kill a succubus on his own despite her later description being "the most powerful woman on the planet." She's apparently been around since the beginning of time, her powers against men are apparently well-known enough to cause any supernatural being to flinch at the sound of her name, and she has already incapacitated the main character before the book even begins, but instead of sending a team of enforcers against her they just go ahead and send Faz in again on his own, because...he's the main character. Faz's inner monologue gallops on and on without a breather, frequently telling us things he just told us a few pages ago, going off on tangents and breaking down whatever suspense the author was trying for, and telling us the things he's doing without really bringing across any connections to the emotions he's describing having. It was a struggle to get through to the end, and the end itself was over in a hurry using tactics that came more or less out of nowhere.

this was a joy to read...well written...delightful descriptions and characters...hooked me inimmediately and kept me entertained..would recommend this to my friends..now i cannot sem to submit this so willbuy a dozen copies for my group

It was a little disconcerting the 1st couple of chapters, but I'm very glad I didn't give up on this book. Spark is definitely an odd character, but I couldn't help love him as I continued reading the book. Don't miss out on this one!

I almost quit reading as the first chapter or two put me off a little. To much of the guy talking about his hair and fashion his fashion sense. I'm glad I stuck with it and found the book has the type of characters that you care about and keep you reading.

The writing was very engaging. I loved the fact that the author drops you into his world as if you already know what is going on, then just as you start to get confused he slowly feeds you the back story you need to not be lost. Unlike so many books, you don't have to slog thru a couple of chapters of explanation and history before you get to the meat of the story.