An out of practice wizard-turned-investigator must protect another life in this urban fantasy mystery for fans of Jim Butcher and Benedict Jacka. Janzen Robinson is no longer a man torn between two worlds, having decided to come off the bench and dive head first into Cleveland's magical underworld. With his new partner and perpetually exhausted friend Grove, he's just starting to get a handle on all the supernatural happenings when disaster shows up at their doorstep and doesn't even have the decency to knock. Gale stands accused of disrupting the Balance, and Janzen finds himself abruptly tasked with finding out who's behind the accusation. It's a charge as serious as it is vague, at least to Janzen, but that doesn't stop the two governing bodies of the In-Between from showing up in his hometown and unleashing a Blind Judge to exact justice. The House of Unet and the Tribe of Masarou don't share Janzen's sense of humor, nor do they have anything in...

An out of practice wizard-turned-courier must save a young witch—and the world—in this urban fantasy mystery for fans of Jim Butcher and Benedict Jacka. Five years removed from a life as an apprentice to a group of heroes who battled supernatural evils, the once-promising student Janzen Robinson has become a package courier. He now works the daily grind, passing time at a hole-in-the-wall bar and living in a tiny, run-down apartment on the south side of Cleveland, Ohio. Then from the ancient recesses of unyielding darkness known as the Abyss, a creature has been summoned: a Stalker, a predator whose real name must never be spoken. It's a bastardization of the natural order, a formidable blend of dark magic and primal tenacity. Its mission? To end the life of a fiery, emerging young witch. Thrust into the role of protector, a position once reserved for those he'd lost years ago, the out-of-practice "Artificer" is forced to confront his painful...