Wizard for Hire by Obert Skye

My name is Ozzy, and my parents were kidnapped seven years ago. I've been living alone in the woods ever since, except for my robotic raven named Clark. I decided to try finding my parents and hired a wizard named Rin to help, although I've never actually seen him cast a spell. I found some tapes hidden in the cloaked house and discovered my parents were working on a way to control minds. They moved to these remote woods in Oregon to hide, but my home is no longer hidden. Someone broke in and ransacked the place! I can't go to the police, since the school discovered I strolled into the building without any records. I wish Rin could just cast a spell to find my parents, but he says it doesn't work that way. It still seems like it would be a lot safer than car chases, hiding from the police, and facing men with guns!

I was expecting a book full of spells and magic, but that's not what I found (Although Rin would disagree). Even up until the end, I kept wondering if Rin actually possessed the powers he claimed to own. A few amazing things occurred, but they could have been flukes or luck. Magic would have made things much easier, but I liked how the author kept it uncertain. The most magical part of the book was Clark. He was a talking robotic raven with independent thought. He saved the human characters a couple times, but his most endearing quality was his love for birds and metal objects. He wasn't shy about sharing his affection for the school flagpole and a trash dumpster. The whole plot was presented like a mystery, as Ozzy tried to uncover the truth about his parents. Living in the middle of the woods without electricity created problems, and having the police hunting him created more of them. Rin's eccentric character was helpful, and but his unusual thinking made his actions unpredictable. Imagine being in a high-speed chase, flipping off a mound of dirt, and landing atop a moving train. Luck or magic? The early part of the book didn't move along as fast as I would have liked, but overall I really enjoyed the story.