We Are Not Good People
By Jeff Somers
4/5
()
About this ebook
From the "exhilarating, powerful, and entertaining" (Guardian) storyteller of the Avery Cates series comes a gritty supernatural thriller featuring a pair of unlikely heroes caught up in the underground world of blood magic. Magicians: they are not good people.
The ethics in a world of blood are gray—and an underground strata of blood magicians has been engineering disasters for centuries in order to acquire enough fuel for their spells. Although in the modern world these mages stay in the shadows, their exploits have become no less bloody.
Still, some practitioners use the Words and a swipe of the blade to cast simpler spells, such as Charms and Cantrips to gas up $1 bills so they appear to be $20s. Lem Vonnegan and his sidekick Mags fall into this level of mage, hustlers and con men all. Lem tries to be ethical by using only his own blood, by not using Bleeders or "volunteers." But it makes life hard. Soon they might have to get honest work.
When the pair encounter a girl who's been kidnapped and marked up with magic runes for a ritual spell, it's clear they're in over their heads. Turning to Lem's estranged Master for help, they are told that not only is the girl's life all but forfeit, but that the world's preeminent mage, Mika Renar, has earth-shattering plans for her—and Lem just got in the way. With the fate of the world on the line, and Lem both spooked and intrigued by the mysterious girl, the other nominate him to become the huckleberry who'll take down Renar. But even if he, Mags, and the simpletons who follow him prevail, they're dealing with the kind of power that doesn't understand defeat, or mercy.
(The first portion of We Are Not Good People was originally published in an altered form as Trickster by Pocket Books).
Jeff Somers
In 1995 Jeff Somers began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (InnerSwine.com). His published novels include the Avery Cates series, the Ustari Cycle, Chum, and The Ruiner. He's also had stories published in many magazines, most of which regret the connection. His story "Ringing the Changes" was chosen for "Best American Mystery Stories 2006" and his story "Sift, Almost Invisible, Through" appeared in Crimes by Moonlight edited by Charlaine Harris in 2010. He currently lives in Hoboken, NJ, with his lovely wife Danette and their plump, imperious cats. In between all this and writing, Jeff plays chess and staves off despair with cocktails.
Read more from Jeff Somers
Urban Enemies Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Chum: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUp the Crazy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAvery Cates: The Sewer Rat Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to We Are Not Good People
Titles in the series (5)
Last Best Day Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWe Are Not Good People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fixer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Boom Bands Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Stringer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related ebooks
Instinct: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Cities at Sea Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Man Who Was Thursday Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBride of the Rat God Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Scoundrels: A Blackguards Anthology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Heart Does Not Grow Back: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Ways We End: Six Tales of Doom: Dark Collections, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Ragnarok Resolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDeath in Florence Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dropnauts: Liminal Sky: Redemption Cycle, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlack Chaos: Tales of the Zombie Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGeist: Prelude Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSo You Had To Build A Time Machine Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDamage Per Second Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Lying Bastard Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhiteout: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 183 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Demi-Monde: Winter: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Rust: One Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Black Cat Weekly #108 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Undead at War (And Other Stories) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Murder of Mages Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Kronos Interference Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clouds and Earth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Clarkesworld Magazine Issue 192 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHopscotch Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lightspeed Magazine, Issue 142 (March 2022): Lightspeed Magazine, #142 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Welcome to Hell: A Working Guide for the Beginning Writer Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Fantasy For You
Fairy Tale Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tress of the Emerald Sea: Secret Projects, #1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lord Of The Rings: One Volume Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Priory of the Orange Tree Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fellowship Of The Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nettle & Bone Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Slewfoot: A Tale of Bewitchery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Is How You Lose the Time War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The City of Dreaming Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Piranesi Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sarah J. Maas: Series Reading Order - with Summaries & Checklist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Immortal Longings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Phantom Tollbooth Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black Sun Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Unkindness of Magicians Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Picture of Dorian Gray (The Original 1890 Uncensored Edition + The Expanded and Revised 1891 Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silmarillion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Eyes of the Dragon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mistborn: Secret History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Desert: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Assassin and the Empire: A Throne of Glass Novella Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Don Quixote: [Complete & Illustrated] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for We Are Not Good People
2 ratings0 reviews