Breach

August 27, 2018
Arcane magic meets Cold War intrigue in this alternate history series opener from debut author Goodwater. Karen O’Neil is a researcher and magician whose sexist coworkers demean her for being a woman, while the public distrusts her for using magic. Her father, a veteran who saw firsthand how horribly magic was used in battle, is particularly scornful. Eager to prove herself, Karen leaps at a request from the State Department to investigate a growing breach in the Berlin Wall, which in this universe is an enormous construct of magical energy that divides the city and the world. Plots criss-cross and double-cross as Karen learns the truth of the Wall’s creation and the weapon it hides. Goldwater sprinkles powerful truths about the nature of power into this entertaining tale of magic and espionage. The novel’s ambitions get the better of it sometimes, with a few plot holes and underdeveloped characters as well as a startling absence of non-white people, but the well-constructed world and thrilling vibe more than make up for it. Agent: Jennifer Udden, Barry Goldblatt Literary.

November 1, 2018
Goodwater's debut is a fantastic alternate version of the Cold War era, with Berlin securely enclosed by a 20-foot-high barrier of pure magical energy. Magic didn't win the war? the good old U.S. did?but most real, red-blooded Americans remember the horrors it caused, and it scares them silly. That did not prevent the government from recruiting German magicians?part of a magical brain drain from East to West. Karen O'Neil, one of the few American female magicians, works for the Office of Magical Research and Deployment. When the CIA requests the OMRD's help in Germany, her boss and admired mentor, one of those German �migr�s, assigns Karen to the investigation with only one warning: to stay away from the wall. Arriving in Berlin, Karen learns the CIA wants her to discover why the wall has suddenly developed a breach. Any weakness in the magic, if not corrected, could cause the barrier to collapse, leading to riots and another, much more devastating war. Magic, espionage, and history combine in this thrilling, fast-paced fantasy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)