429 pages

English language

Published Nov. 26, 2015

ISBN:
978-0-85766-460-0
Copied ISBN!
OCLC Number:
876882789

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"FLEX. Distilled magic in crystal form. The most dangerous drug in the world. Snort it, and you can create incredible coincidences to live the life of your dreams. FLUX: The backlash from snorting Flex. The universe hates magic and tries to rebalance the odds; maybe you survive the horrendous accidents the Flex inflicts, maybe you don't. PAUL TSABO: The obsessed bureaucromancer who's turned paperwork into a magical Beast that can rewrite rental agreements, conjure rented cars from nowhere, track down anyone who's ever filled out a form. But when all of his formulaic magic can't save his burned daughter, Paul must enter the dangerous world of Flex dealers to heal her. Except he's never done this before - and the punishment for brewing Flex is army conscription and a total brain-wipe"--from publisher's web site.

1 edition

Review of 'Flex' on 'Goodreads'

Smart, creative, interesting. Really cool premise, especially for someone who hasn’t read a lot of urban fantasy and/or magic themes (beyond Harry Potter). Some compelling characters (Valentine, Anathema, Aliyah), although I wish I’d liked Paul a little more.

The story was a little choppy for me, and the flash-forward with Paul chained to the radiator was clumsy and lacked subtlety, but neither was sufficiently egregious to make me stop reading. I loved the integration of video games and wish I were familiar with more of them so I could understand the references better.

I always love a story with some version of a “guns don’t kill people, people kill people” message, even when it’s a cliché (which it often is, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done well), and this was no exception.

All in all - very enjoyable. I’ll be interested to see what else Mr. Steinmetz produces.

avatar for ToddPM

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Subjects

  • Fathers and daughters
  • Drug traffic
  • Magic
  • Side effects
  • Drugs
  • Fiction