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From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Think identity theft is bad? Imagine someone dead set on stealing your life force, or chi. That's the foe faced by London martial artist and tattoo artist Mia Lockheart in Mostert's latest supernatural thriller (after Season of the Witch, 2007). Lockheart is a Keeper, a gifted soul who possesses the power to protect others from harm. Her charges are fighters, whom she safeguards with her positive energy before they enter the ring. She's in the midst of whipping fighter Nick Duffy into shape when along comes Adrian Ashton, a brilliant scientist, medical doctor, and martial artist who doesn't exactly subscribe to the Hippocratic Oath. (He targets fellow fighters and literally drains them of their chi.) Adrian quickly draws Mia into his world. He's killed a handful of martial artists to date, but Mia is too enraptured to make the connection between his enigmatic nature and dark deeds. Will she come to her senses before Adrian fells another victim? Ruminations on magic, mysticism, and science liven up an otherwise mild tale of modern romance.--Block, Allison Copyright 2009 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
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Mostert (Season of the Witch) cleverly melds mystery with the supernatural in this Zen-tinged thriller. Mia Lockhart Cortez, a South London tattooist and martial artist, employs her mystical gifts to watch over modern-day warriors-kickboxers-in her secret role as a "Keeper." Mia is particularly concerned to protect her boyfriend, Nick Duffy, who's preparing for a big fight. During an out-of-body excursion ("stepping out"), Mia has a violent, erotically charged encounter with Adrian "Ash" Ashton, an "impossibly good-looking" vampiric thief, who drains chi, a person's life force, instead of blood from his victims. Nick feels threatened by Mia's attraction to the seductive Ash, who may have drawn on the power of The Book of Light and Dust, "a mixture of personal philosophy, diary entries and science," to murder several U.K. kickboxers. Some Net-related touches, including Ash using text messaging to taunt Mia, add to the intrigue. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved