The Magic Man (A Sadie Reed Story, 2)

Rating: 4 Stars

"The invisible strings of emotions move us to do great things. Whether they are helpful or harmful depends on who's pulling them."

THE MAGIC MAN: From the time he was little he knew he was different. He enjoyed pain. Inflicting it. Seeing it swim through the eyes of others. His mother suspected what he was, a sociopath, like his father. He loved hurting animals and never smiled. She did everything in her power to instill goodness in him. But would nurturing him with goodness be enough, when at his core he was pure evil? Only time would tell. Or, would time help him see that if he gave in to his true nature, he would grow to be something more powerful than even he knew possible? THE PAIN EATER: It's been two years since Sadie found one of the Magic Man's victims, Maxine Powell. With her growing abilities and her dad's notes she believes finding the missing women is her destiny. When her health takes a dark turn, Adrian and Lupita urge her to take a step back. She reluctantly agrees. But after she starts receiving mental messages from one of the victim's six-year-old son, she questions whether her hiatus is a good idea. If she answers his call will she find one more victim, or move closer to becoming a victim herself?

Holy cow. Okay so this book had all the paranormal spooky I was missing in the first one. It had the thrill and all the suspense. It was written in such a different style, that I preferred it over the first book to be honest. I really enjoyed that this time we got some insight into the Magic Man. We basically got to follow his development up until the events that sparked Sadie's journey. While I enjoyed all the work Sadie was doing as a Pain Eater my favorite element is watching her try to uncover the truth behind the missing women and the Magic Man. This book gave us a lot of connections and answers, like some really great ones. But it also left me with so many questions.

I think the author did a beautiful job with character development in this one. It is a bit darker, but I mean that is kind of expected with the sociopath getting his story told. I feel like I formed so many theories while reading this book and some of them proved right, but others I was way off base. And now I need to know what comes next for both Sadie and the Magic Man. It just feels like some big battle is being built towards and I need to know the outcome. So if you like magic and spooky things, but also tough emotional topics, you should read this series. I know I will eagerly be anticipating the release of book 3.