This new series begins smartly with 16-year-old Dana, tired of coping with her alcoholic single mother, running away to find her father in Avalon, which, in this arch and insightful version, is situated between twenty-first-century London and the world of faerie.Black handles the mash-up of genres and cultures deftly, giving Dana a credibility that keeps readers cheering her on through such dismal adventures as being dogged by a bodyguard while trying to spend her newfound father’s euros and getting attacked by would-be assassins, as well as those of a more delicious variety, like discovering that bad-boy hunk Ethan may not be all that bad after all.

The world building here is brisk but accessible, the issues range from teen angst to faerie politics, and the skills needed to negotiate both include some magic-spell work and some sharp-tongue work.This is a promising start to a series that should have broad appeal among teens tiring of vampires but not dangerous romance.