This was a GREAT new take on wizards. I'm not one for magic books, especially ones where magic seems to solve all the characters' problems, at the drop of a (witch or wizard's) hat.
This one does exactly the opposite.
It starts with the main character's backstory, a six or seven year old Ozzy. His parents mysteriously move to a secluded wooded area in Oregon and one day they're snatched by a set of violent goons.
Ozzy, however, escapes -- or is left behind, depending on whose POV you're seeing the story from -- and proceeds to raise himself on canned food and jars of peanut butter his parents stockpiled.
One day he discovers a little solar-powered mechanical bird, Clark, who becomes his constant companion and they go to a beach several miles away and run into Sigi.
Soon, Ozzy is 14 and trying to figure out what happened to his parents (although he's old enough and reasonable enough to understand they're probably dead by now, if they haven't come back for him). First step, get into the local junior high school, where Sigi's a student, too. That involves making friends with Sigi, buying clothes, eating at a local diner (warm food!) and then seeing an advert in the local freebie weekly: Wizard for Hire.
And here's where the real story starts.
The wizard, Rin, takes Ozzy's case. But here's what I love about this book. Rin doesn't whip his magic around, pulling it out to solve Ozzy's every conflict or obstacle.
Rin talks about it, acts as if he assumes it will be there to save them, but he doesn't "wield" it -- at all. There is an air of plausible deniability about every single instance in which Rin's "magic" appears (not wielded by him, mind). There's a logical explanation. Physics. Gravity. Clark. Sigi and her dad, Rin. Clark and Ozzy and Sigi and Rin, working together. The weather. Anything, but magic.
Even -- or especially?! -- the ending, when Rin finally gets out his wand. You're left wondering, was it magic? Or was it ...?
I won't spoil the ending.
Together, the four of them outrun Sheriff Wills and take the conflict to the bad guys in Albuquerque, now searching for Ozzy, or more importantly, what Ozzy's parents were hiding, when they fled New York for rural Oregon so many years before.
I loved that the ending answered no questions at all. It left us wondering if magic really was real. Is the wizard Rin, a wizard? Or just a big, fake, dead-beat dad? Was it all just a set of amazing coincidences that help Ozzy win the day? You don't know, at the end. You may want to believe, but you don't know.
Enjoy this read! It's a lot of fun and will keep you guessing, right up to the next book!
I can imagine it would be exceptionally hard to keep up the rational, plausible explanations for Rin's "magic" through a second book, and the author doesn't really try in this one, not by the end.
First off, Ozzy is running into the ocean in trances. He's asleep or unconscious when he does it, and almost drowns. It becomes a thing Sigi and Clark are worried about, throughout. It has a purpose, although the explanation / significance isn't explained until the end. It has to do with becoming an "apprentice."
Secondly, Rin doesn't play as big a part in this book, although he's a presence. His magic is not up for question, not like it was last time.
In this one, Ozzy matches wits with the mastermind behind his parents' kidnapping and disappearance. He makes a bunch of mistakes, not the least of which is assuming Rin's magic is behind a a plane ticket to New York and a thumb drive that show up on his doorstep. He just doesn't think things through, he's so eager for the "magic" explanation to be the true one and for Rin to appear and rescue him -- again.
In addition, secret-weapon Clark is a secret no longer. In fact, he's a prized trophy, if the new bad guy can catch and hold onto him (easier planned than done).
Ozzy learns what his parents discovered, and that he has the key to it, and he's pursued by hired mercenary Jon after they escape the villain in New York.
Jon kinda loses it -- professionally and emotionally -- and his ability (or not) to capture Sigi, Clark and Ozzy gets personal, real fast.
Sheriff Wills is on the teens' side this time, trying to keep them safe from Jon, not that he's terrifically effective.
I won't spoil the ending. Read and enjoy!
