Publishers Weekly
12/18/2017
In this underwhelming paranormal procedural, a trio of investigators working for the Foundation, a secret organization that regulates and monitors magic, set out to find a magic-using hit man. Donovan, Marci, and Susan must figure out the connection among the victims while dodging attempts on their own lives and contending with the Foundation’s bureaucracy and a possible traitor somewhere in the organization. Brust (the Vlad Taltos series) has a clever and complicated take on urban fantasy. The use of multiple viewpoints, including a first-person thread from the killer’s perspective, livens things up somewhat, and the plot takes some unexpected turns, leading to a satisfying if vague conclusion. But the story is hampered by a focus on the mundane details of the investigatory process, including lengthy Skype chats and requests for reimbursement. The detached, almost dispassionate narrative voice and the clichéd nature of the Foundation and the serial killer give the impression that Brust might be intentionally drawing out the details to deconstruct genre tropes, but the book doesn’t succeed either as commentary or as a mystery. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Good Guys
"Brust fans and admirers of Connie Willis and Jim Butcher will appreciate [Good Guys]."—Library Journal
"Amusing and campy...fast-paced action and witty narration." —Booklist
Praise for Steven Brust
“Brust is one of those natural caper writers, a pulp writer in the Hammett tradition, someone with what William Gibson calls ‘wheels on his tractor.’ In other words, a writer who can spin a yarn that keeps you guessing until the end, aware of many precise moving parts all meshing in synchrony to drive a magnificent jeweled watch of a story.” —Cory Doctorow on Hawk
“Secret societies, immortality, murder mysteries, and Las Vegas all in one book? Shut up and take my money.” —John Scalzi on The Incrementalists
“Delightful, exciting, and sometimes brilliant.” —Neil Gaiman on Steven Brust
"Watch Steven Brust. He's good. He moves fast. He surprises you. Watching him untangle the diverse threads of intrigue, honor, character and mayhem from amid the gears of a world as intricately constructed as a Swiss watch is a rare pleasure." —Roger Zelazny
"Steven Brust may well be America's best fantasy writer." —Tad Williams
“Wonderful…Like most of Brust’s books, this witty, wry tale stands alone and is very accessible to new readers.” —Publishers Weekly on Tiassa
Kirkus Reviews
2018-01-23
Three operatives work to solve a string of murders committed by sorcery, but their investigation leads them to question both their own secretive employers and the ethics of using magic, in this novel by fantasist Brust (Vallista, 2017, etc.).Donovan is a skilled investigator, and legally dead. He leads Marci, a sorcerer who specializes in charms and picking up the lingering signatures of spells cast, and Susan, a gifted martial artist, as an investigative team for the Foundation, a mysterious society that recruits and trains sorcerers and whose mandate is to make sure "civilians" don't learn about magic's existence. But when seemingly random people start being killed by magic, the trio must call upon all their gifts to discover the common thread connecting the victims. In doing so, they're frequently frustrated by their own minimum-wage pay and the Foundation's penny-pinching internal bureaucracy...a conceit that is cute the first time but wears thin as the Foundation's full power becomes clear (it seems like our heroes earn minimum wage for no deeper reason than allowing them to gripe about it). Their investigation raises more questions: what's the connection between the Foundation and their ancient rivals, the Mystici? Is there a mole in the Foundation—perhaps their own enigmatic supervisor? Most importantly, do sorcerers have a moral obligation to use their powers well? Some questions get answered satisfactorily and others less so; the moments of climactic confrontation are often shunted off-screen in favor of reflections after the fact. It's telling that after experiencing personal loss and delving into the Foundation's secrets, the characters' biggest change at the end is simply getting a bonus.An engaging cast can't entirely save this novel from the leaps it asks readers to make. The story often fizzles where it should bang.
