DEVIOUS PREY

Following their airship’s crash on a mysterious mobile island, a young dragon smuggler joins other passengers and crew in a desperate struggle to survive.

With overtones of both Predator and Lord of the Flies, Reintgen’s latest includes a power struggle and multiple secret agendas, which come into play after a storm-tossed disaster leads to a rapidly rising body count among the dwindling handful of survivors. The author’s proven flair for concocting unusual sorts and strains of magic is on full display too. The largely white-presenting human cast includes Marken Burke, a wizard who’s being transported in chains to be tried for mass murder, and Pearl Trask, a young pig keeper who proves to be nursing more secrets than just a sideline in trafficking deadly animals. Plus, in a terrifying embodiment of William Golding’s imaginary beast, there’s a cunning, murderous dragoness who escaped during the crash and whose ability to become virtually invisible by adopting anything she touches—from rocks and water to flesh—as a camouflaging “skin” leads to a thrillingly gruesome climactic battle. Whether Marken is a wronged character who’s worthy of sympathy or a conceited and manipulative crumb, Pearl at least can see right through him to the good heart beneath. By the open-ended finish, the two have found enough common ground for tender, budding romance and mutual respect.

Brutal, often ingenious, and kitted with a scene-stealing monster that will delight dragon lovers.