ANGEL EYE

Adrien Desfourneaux comes back to solve another magical mystery.

Someone is killing patients at the Chirurgeonate—an angel of death causing magically induced heart attacks is on the loose. Twice tried for witchcraft and acquitted, former doctor Adrien Desfourneaux tops the Curia Clementia's list of suspects. Suddenly, his every move is suspicious—including visiting his friend and alienist Malise Tyrrhena at the hospital. And that's hardly all Adrien has on his plate at the moment. A dithymic akratic—a person with this world's version of bipolar disorder—Adrien relies on a paid keeper to prevent him from injuring himself or others. His last keeper, Gennady Richter, whom readers will remember from Cursebreakers (2023), disqualified himself after being thrown in jail for tussling with the Clementia's inquisitors, leaving Adrien to hire someone else. That someone turns out to be Florian Albrecht, a Chirurgeonate doctor who specializes in healing magic—and who might be able to help Adrien recover his lost elemental capabilities. In anticipation of an akratic episode waiting on the horizon, Adrien has promised Florian complete obedience. But when Florian's guidance begins to get in the way of Adrien's burgeoning relationship with an actor named Oliver Harcourt, Adrien must decide whether to take a chance on love in the shadow of his own mental illness. Nakamura has knocked it out of the park once again here. Although Gennady fans will be disappointed at his backseat role, and the villain is revealed perhaps a little too soon, readers will be thrilled with this second look into Adrien's world.

A fast-paced return to Nakamura's magical world.