Blood Hound

Blood Hound

James Osiris Baldwin

#5531 of 8,085 books · #1016 in Fantasy

Shortlisted for the Dragon Award for Best Fantasy Novel (2016).

Alexi Sokolsky is a Spook, a hitman and mage capable of killing with nothing but a word of power and the strength of his Will. But arcane ability comes with a price: The same powers that make Alexi indispensable to the Russian Mafia also make him a social outcast, an object of fear and superstition. When a high-ranking Sicilian Mafioso is brutally murdered and dumped on Russian Mafia territory covered in Occult sigils, everyone blames the only mage they know - Alexi. Forced to play detective to clear his name, Alexi discovers that the gruesome sacrifice is only the beginning of a hunt that threatens Life as we know it. A Gift Horse - a mysterious creature rumored to carry the secrets of all creation in her flesh and blood - has landed in New York. Every underworld mage in the city is slavering over the limitless power she can provide, and in her desperation, she is calling to Alexi for help. If Alexi heeds the Gift Horse's call, he stands to lose his place in the Mafia and his life. If he doesn't, the world will be held hostage by whoever finds her first - and given that a demon-summoning murderous psychopath is in pole position, the odds are not in the world's favor.