Lady Lazarus

the long version

"Lang combines historical and urban fantasy to create a parallel world full of witches, vampires, angels, and demons on the eve of WWII. In Budapest, rebellious 20-year-old Magda is the last in the line of powerful Jewish Lazarus witches, but she has resisted her unique magical heritage, spending her time as assistant to one of the city's leading vampires. Younger sister Gisele may lack the family gift but is still a talented seer, and her visions of coming death and destruction set Magda off on a quest across Europe in the summer of 1939, racing to claim her family's lost Book of Raziel before it can be seized by the Nazi wizards. Lang even manages to weave in a romance story line as a desperate Magda does the unthinkable and summons the angel Raziel, only to discover he is much more human than anyone thought. By cleverly mixing her fantastical creations into real history, Lang crafts a creative and tense story as all of Europe awaits the September invasion of Poland. Lang is a writer to watch and is sure to have wide appeal to fans of Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, and other urban-fantasy A-listers. An outstanding debut."--Jessica Moyer, Booklist, starred review.