I have thoroughly enjoyed Patricks’s Mennik Thorn series in the past, and it was fun diving back into his chaotic, messy world once again.

This novella covers events before the primary series, so for readers who haven’t read it yet, it would serve as a good entry point. While the plot is lighter than the full-length books, it works just as well as a standalone read.

As with his other books, the author’s writing is in equal parts funny and gritty. The humor is well-woven into Mennik’s rambling monologue and the nicely presented action sequences, which complement the bleak, chaotic cultural landscape of Agatos really well.

The lack of angry, violent men waiting to smash my skull had left me in an unexpectedly cheery mood.

Our protagonist—the port city’s only mage for hire—gets entangled in a strange missing person’s case, which turns out to be, as luck would have it, way more convoluted than what appears on the surface. While he can smell something fishy every step of the way, his dismal monetary state leaves him with little choice but to pursue it through the deep rabbit hole that brings him closer to dubious brothels, shady artifact smugglers, and dockside shenanigans.

You could have scooped my reluctance up with a shovel. It dragged on me like swimming through shit-thickened water.

His only companion in this quest is Benny, his childhood friend who happens to be a rather accomplished thief.

Between his landlord’s thugs, other, more powerful mages and random enemies he gathers along the way, the threats are many. The most impressive, perhaps, is Sereh, Benny’s daughter, who doesn’t have as major a role to play in this book, but her brief appearance was absolutely delightful in a bone-chilling way. Ah, how much I had missed her.

As a long-time fan of the Dresden Files, the mage-for-hire narrative was what initially drew me into the series. And while I have thoroughly enjoyed both---Mennik Thorn offers a fresh, distinctively unique experience. Go pre-order the book now. You won’t regret it. The world you see here extends far beyond.

That void inside them was the place where all love and kindness and compassion had once lived.