Fairly light UF superhero fiction with traditional powers, relics, and mystery.

Of course, it's fueled by quasi-governmental agencies and assassinations that may or may not be justified, but the real joy in the novel comes from the mystery.

Murder.

Increasingly interesting and gory effects murder.

But to whom? And why?

The guilty. :) You know all those bank people who busted the economy, or the a-holes who focused on all their specialty pet projects but completely ignored the plights of the common man? Yeah. Deaders.

Feeling conflicted? Me, too.

But that's the joy we can gleam from this superhero novel. Magic, relics, and the common man. Minimum wage superheroes???? Come on. You KNOW this has to be a gimmick. A fun one, too. :)

I've been a big fan of Brust for a long time now and this modern rendition of the comic tradition is fun as hell. Just bring the beer. Please. The good stuff. Don't get all pansy ass on me.


Thanks to netgalley for the ARC! ( )

An interesting foray into the magical urban fantasy genre. Worth the read. ( )

Mostly I just like Brust’s Jhereg stories, and To Reign in Hell, but I didn’t bounce off of this one as I have some recent Brust. Donovan and his team—Hippie Chick (the bruiser) and New Girl (the sorceror) are part of the Foundation, whose ill-paid job is to protect magic from general discovery and catch those misusing it. When people connected to the other main magical organization start turning up killed in magical, and increasingly gruesome, ways, Donovan and his team investigate, even though the people they’re protecting have done some very bad things. Not quite as much about bureaucracy as The Laundry Files, but somewhat in that vein, as a low-level operative tries to save the world and, though he’s pretty sure he’s on the right side, deal with the things that his organization allows that are not very right at all. ( )

When Donovan is shot nine times, four of those shots are lethal . . . but Donovan doesn’t die because The Foundation picked him up, brought him back, trained him.

At fifteen, Marci levitated a paperweight and threw it at a guy she did not like. The Foundation scooped her up, too, and trained her, just like Donovan. And Susan.

It’s all about the magic.

Now the three can teleport themselves thousands of miles, conjure up shields to stop bullets, read information from the remaining fragments of spells cast by others, even days before. They work for the secretive Foundation because they’re the good guys. Aren’t they?

Snarky, irreverent, campy, and filled with fun, readers will find this witty, fast-paced fantasy, peopled with complicated characters, nuanced and hopeful. As the two factions work to keep magic from becoming common knowledge, readers may wish for more information on this world and its magical societies. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining tale of murder with a magic assist. ( )

This book is not a sequel! I had to check because I wasn't comfortable reading it until I was sure.
A fun cookie of a book with seriously dark chips. Two organizations of magic users with somewhat different ethics are involved in a series of murders one investigating one as victims - or is it so clear cut?
Medical biller, PI wanna be, with all the skills but not the title, Donovan Longfellow with magic practitioner Marci Sullivan and martial artist Susan Kouris are getting into increasingly risky situations as they investigate the (implausibly) unbroken chain of murders. The characters were good, the writing smooth and appropriate, the action moved well and logically except for the perfect detection of the murders in the very timely fashion with little to support such omnipotent efficiency. ( )