Adam Binder hasn’t heard from his brother since he left Liberty House, the asylum Bobby had him committed to. But when Bobby's wife is possessed by some sort of spirit, even Bobby is forced to admit that maybe Adam really was seeing into the spirit world and ask for help. Adam's search for a warlock also points to Denver, so he leaves the trailer park in Oklahoma to investigate. This is a superb debut novel. The main character, Adam, is a low powered wizard, who has tried to keep his head down in his dealings with Spirit. As well as growing up in a family that thought him crazy, he is also dealing with being gay in a small town in the Southern United States. While there are plenty of familiar beings for fantasy fans with ghosts, elves, and lizard people all featuring, Slayton gives this world original dynamics and twists, too. KM

Published by Blackstone