Dark urban fantasy. Hidden magic. Monsters in the city. And one very reluctant immortal.
Cicero James, Ardent Fool is a dark urban fantasy novel set in San Francisco, blending hidden worlds, dark humor, and an irreverent, mostly reliable narrator.
Cicero James is the Immortal, the latest in a long line of can’t-die unfortunates tied to the Eternal Cycle—a force bound up with the fate of the world. He’s also a regular guy with a 9-to-5 job, bills to pay, and absolutely no interest in a greater purpose. Reeling from the death of his mentor, the collapse of his orderly life, and new threats to those he cares about, Cicero is struggling to hold himself together, let alone be anyone’s hero.
That fragile balance collapses entirely when enemies old and new—the violent underground group known as Cry Havoc and the cold, calculating Mallory Shrike—launch escalating assaults on the Order of the Magi and the city of San Francisco itself. Cry Havoc seeks to unleash chaos on the city and usher in a new age of domination, and Cicero stands directly in their way.
As the hidden world of Miracle Workers edges toward open catastrophe, Cicero is pulled into a desperate fight involving monstrous Denizens from the Space Between Spaces, secret Worker factions, uneasy alliances, and a role he never wanted. Forced to confront grief, responsibility, and his own limitations, he must decide whether he can become the Immortal the world needs.
Darkly funny, fast-paced, and filled with sharp, visceral action, Cicero James, Ardent Fool is the second installment in Hal Emerson’s urban fantasy series.
