Katharine Kerr – License to Ensorcell

The first book in the Nola O'Grady series, published February 1, 2011.
Genre: urban fantasy



Psychic Agent Nola O'Grady isn't sure returning to San Francisco, and living near her unusual family, is a good idea. Her job, with a psychic agency so obscure even the CIA doesn't know it exists, can be perilous, and she's afraid of the relatives getting involved.
Then the Agency saddles her with Israeli secret agent Ari Nathan, and she has a bigger problem on her hands, because tact and compromise are not Ari's strong points. Their mission is to track down a serial killer obsessed with werewolves. He sees them everywhere and shoots whenever he thinks he has one in his sights. Ari assumes the man's psychotic, but in truth he's murdering actual werewolves. Nola should know. Her younger brother Pat, a lycanthrope, was the first victim.
Can Nola's psychic talents and Ari's skill with guns keep them alive long enough to unravel the greater mystery behind the killings? Can they save the werewolves and the world while stopping Nola's family from running headlong into danger?




I have been reading Katharine Kerr’s fantasy series of Deverry for many years now and totally enjoyed them. So when I finally found out, she has an urban fantasy series as well, I just had to read them. The first book arrived just in time to take it with me to Berlin, and I started reading it. I have still no idea what to think of it, did I like it, or not? This book is just plain strange, and original, but good.


Nola O’Grady is a secret agent with psychic powers. She sees Angels and Saints who give her cryptic messages, all in the fight against Chaos. She doesn’t work for Order, she works to keep the Balance. Too much Order, and all things would come to a standstill, which is not good. A little Chaos is necessary to have Balance, too much Chaos and there would be too much evil in the world. Some strange things have been happening in San Francisco, her home town, and her bosses have decided she is needed there. Nola is not sure she is happy with that decision, she did not plan on returning to her family. And with her family, it is impossible to keep a secret. As she finds out when she meets her aunt while on patrol. Her aunt dreams about people and the future, and so far, she has never been wrong. But aunt Eileen agrees to keep her presence in town a secret from her mother.
Back at the office, Nola gets the disturbing news that she will have a visitor. An Israeli agent needs her help in finding a killer. Two people have been killed in Israel, and they believe the murderer is now in San Francisco. The agent in question, Ari Nathan, totally does not believe in psychic powers, and he has a hard time believing anything Nola tells him. He wants detailed explanations, which she doesn’t have.

The blurb describes pretty much what happens in this book. Thrown in are a very eccentric family, where everyone is different and has different powers, a portal to parallel worlds, and a very big attraction between Nola and Ari. Ari is so not used to being turned down by a woman. He does look gorgeous, he has a divine English accent, and he knows what to say to a woman. But Nola seems not to be interested in him, but when she has a killer after her, he sees his chances in moving in to keep her safe. And as Nola has no good way of turning down his offer to be her bodyguard, she will have to let him into her apartment.
Ari is hell on wheels, and Nola threatens him with bodily harm if he ever drives like that again with her in the car. He is totally clueless to what she means by that. And so far, so good, as Ari seems to be capable of dealing with her crazy family. But when her younger brother Michael goes missing, Nola is doing whatever she can to get him back. She has always tried to keep her family out of the agency, but she might not have another option left.

I will read the second book soon, I just have to find out what will happen next. Both on the relationship level, and in this totally unique world Katharine Kerr has created.

7 stars

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian