MASKS AND MIRRORS

The second book of Duff’s (Stack a Deck, 2017, etc.) Weir Chronicles embroils college student Rayne Bevan further in a millennia-old war—while she continues to fall for powerful magician Ian Black.

In the first book, Rayne learned of the Weir, an ancient alien race who are stewards of nature and dwell unknown alongside humans. They split into two factions, the well-intentioned Pur and the nefarious Duach. Duach leader Aeros commissioned a deadly biological weapon from Richard Donovan, CEO of Lux Pharmaceuticals, that’s able to kill Sars, the firstborn sons of the Weir who possess various magical powers. What Aeros doesn’t know is that his own son, Jaered, is in league with rebel leader Eve and that he plans to save humanity and Earth from his father’s scheming by stealing the bioweapon. Meanwhile, Ian has been enlisted by his manager’s mother, JoAnna Langtree, to use his illusionist skills to rescue Donovan’s wife, Carlene, and son, Bryant, from the CEO’s grasp—but he soon realizes there’s more to Donovan and his son than meets the eye. Jaered, determined to keep the Sar-destroying serum out of his father’s hands, is willing to exchange the deaths of Donovan’s family for the vial. Will Ian, Rayne, and their allies save them in time? While the first installment sometimes overwhelmed with back story, all the previous exposition allows this book to move at a quick, exciting pace, particularly during Ian’s and Jaered’s simultaneous heists at Lux Pharmaceuticals. A dizzying number of characters both old and new might challenge readers’ memories. Rayne and Ian’s romance, stymied by the fact that they cannot touch without Ian’s suffering terrible pain, gets little airtime, but there’s plenty of action and intrigue to spare.

Corporate espionage meets magic in this entertaining sequel.