March 29, 2021
Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong
The basics
Title: Industrial Magic
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Series: Women of the Otherworld #4
- Bitten (2001) - Stolen (2002) - Dime Store Magic (2004) - Industrial Magic (2004) - Haunted (2005) - Broken (2006) - No Humans Involved (2007) - Personal Demon (2008) - Living with the Dead (2008) - Frostbitten (2009) - Waking the Witch (2010) - Spellbound (2011) - Thirteen (2012)
Add it: Goodreads
Goodreads Summary:
Paige Winterbourne is in exile. Ousted as leader of the American Coven, she decides to turn her back on her old life and start afresh. But fate, of course, has other plans. A murderer is on the loose - someone with apparently superhuman skills and a grudge against the supernatural community. When Paige discovers that the killer is targetting children, she has to get involved. Desperate to protect those she loves, Paige is thrown back into a world she thought she had left behind for good. But if she wants to stop an apparently unstoppable psychopath, she will have to find allies in some very dark places...
Here is a spoiler summary of what happened in Industrial Magic by Kelley Armstrong to help refresh your memory before you read the sequel.
What happened in Industrial Magic?
- Paige is now looking after Savannah. The Coven aren’t happy with it because Eve, Savannah’s mother, was practising black magic and Savannah is also half sorceror. This is all a big no-no in the Coven’s point of view.
- Leah intercepts Kristof Nast, and says she can help him find Savannah. Savannah is his daughter.
- Paige receives a notice about an upcoming custody battle. Nast is going through lawyers to get custody of Savannah. Paige hires a lawyer, Cary, who is a creep. He ups his prices and tries to get Paige to pay him back in… other ways.
- Leah has Cary killed, trying to frame Paige for the murder. Paige is arrested but not charged because there’s no evidence.
- Lucas Cortez arrives and insists that Paige lets him represent her in this case. Paige is very hesitant and there’s a lot – A LOT – of back and forth but eventually she gives in.
- Leah plants some dead cats in Paige’s garden and calls the police. They find the altar, and Paige insists it wasn’t her.
- People start camping outside Paige’s house because they think she’s a witch. They’re not wrong…
- Social services arrive and ask questions.
- Lucas explains they have to keep Savannah safe until after her menses, and then the Nast Cabal won’t be too interested in her.
- Lucas is part of the Cortez Cabal, btw. He’s actually the heir, but he doesn’t want anything to do with his father’s business. One of his brothers has a bounty out on him.
- Paige goes to the funeral home after being lured there by Leah, and a necromancer wakes up a few bodies and it’s gross.
- Paige and Lucas teach each other a bit of magic. They realise the witch’s spells are lacking because the middle parts are missing from them.
- The Coven try to get rid of Paige because they still don’t like that she’s taking care of Savannah.
- In order to prep for the ceremony, Paige goes to Margaret’s library and takes some books. They find they have to get some dirt from a cemetery so they head there at night.
- Savannah raises some of the dead, as you do. It’s a bit chaotic but everyone gets away with the dirt.
- Leah shows up and starts threatening everyone again. There’s some chaos outside when Savannah casts a confusion spell and people start fighting. Paige calms everyone down.
- Lucas and Paige get together.
- Someone tries to burn Paige’s house down, and she and Savannah are captured. They’re taken to Nast, while Lucas is nowhere to be seen.
- Nast introduces himself as Savannah’s father. There are some witches there who will teach Savannah everything. Savannah is amazed by all of this at first, and demands that Paige stays with her.
- However, the two witches who are meant to be teaching Savannah end up traumatising her instead. They wanted the position of head witch to pass down to their descendents, not to Savannah.
- A teenage witch called Dana is attacked in Miami. She’s the daughter of one of the Cortez Cabal employees. Lucas’ father, Benicio, summons Lucas and Paige to look into this.
- The night Lucas and Paige arrive in Miami, the son of one of Benicio’s bodyguards is killed. The Cabal won’t pay for an investigation by one of their detectives, so Benicio wants Lucas and Paige to investigate instead. Griffin offers to pay Paige too.
- Savannah goes to stay with the Pack, and Elena and Clay come to get her.
- It turns out that it’s not just the Cortez Cabal that is being targeted. Other children of other Cabal employees are being attacked too.
- While Lucas is off defending a client, Paige goes to find a necromancer. She’s lef to Jaime Vegas, who runs a show pretending to be a medium. She’s actually a necromancer and she agrees to help.
- Jaime goes to speak to Dana, who’s currently in a coma. Dana tells Jaime that her attacker said the word “Nasha” before he tried to kill her. Jaime reassures Dana that she’ll wake up soon, but after she breaks the connection Jaime tells Paige that Dana has passed on.
- Paige and Lucas start looking into Cabal employees who have been let go recently. They are led to Everett Weber, and they enter his home. They find encrypted files with lists of children, all of which are children of Cabal employees.
- They find Weber and try to bring him in. Someone from the Cabal sends a SWAT team, though, and Paige is injured. Weber is taken into custody and then swiftly taken to court.
- Weber is found guilty. After the trial, Sean (one of Savannah’s half-siblings) greets Paige and starts to ask about Savannah.
- They’re distracted though because outside they find the body of a Nast grandson.
- Weber is executed immediately after the trial because the supernatural court is not a good one. Weber is buried in a swamp and they try to contact him via Jaime.
- In the swamp, they come across a diety called Esus. He tells them about a man called Edward who hired Weber.
- A ghost starts attacking Jaime but she doesn’t know who it is because the connection is poor. It turns out to be a vampire ghost, and it’s typical that those are hard to deal with.
- It turns out that Edward has been looking for his dead vampire girlfriend, Natasha, who had been killed. He wanted to get back into contact with her, as well as going on a vengeful rampage.
- Paige sets a trap for Edward, but Lucas is shot and all of them fall into the afterlife.
- Paige is greeted by Eve, Savannah’s mother, who is super helpful and takes Paige to the Fates. Paige chats to the Fates and they get Paige nad Lucas back to the human realm.
- The werewolves arrived some point and they bump into Paige and Lucas after they reappear through the portal.
How did Industrial Magic end?
- Benicio hosts a charity ball in an attempt to draw Edward out. It’s not the best plan, and Jaime is taken. Lucas goes looking for her, and Benicio goes looking for Lucas and it’s honestly the worst plan ever.
- But it’s all fine because Jeremy and Savannah show up and they save everyone. I guess the others helped a bit too.
- Benicio kills Edward with a lightning bolt and it’s perhaps the most badass moment of the series so far.
That’s what happened in Industrial Magic! Check out our recap list for more recaps. If you can’t find what you need, you can request a recap from us! Want to buy any books in the Women of the Otherworld series? Use our affiliate link to help support the site!
