The Middling Affliction

"With the fast-paced first Conradverse urban fantasy, Shvartsman (Eridani's Crown) delivers a laugh-out-loud, snarky adventure, throwing out pop culture references and wry observations with dizzying frequency....His supernatural New York City is vibrant and authentic, and Conrad fits right in with wisecracking fan favorite heroes like Harry Dresden and Simon Canderous. The result is a thoroughly satisfying romp."--Publishers Weekly

What would you do if you lost everything that mattered toyou, as well as all means to protect yourself and others, but still had to savethe day? Conrad Brent is about to find out.

Conrad Brent protects the people of Brooklyn from monstersand magical threats. The snarky, wisecracking guardian also has a dangeroussecret: he's one in a million - literally.

Magical ability comes to about one in every 30,000 and canmanifest at any age. Conrad is rarer than this, however. He's a middling, oneof the half-gifted and totally despised. Most of the gifted community feelsthat middlings should be instantly killed. The few who don't flat out hate themstill aren't excited to be around middlings. Meaning Conrad can't tell anyone,not even his best friends, what he really is.

Conrad hides in plain sight by being apart of the volunteer Watch, those magically gifted who protect their citiesfrom dangerous, arcane threats. And, to pay the bills, Conrad moonlights as aprivate detective and monster hunter for the gifted community. Which helps himkeep up his personal fiction - that he's a magical version of Batman. Conraddoes both jobs thanks to charms, artifacts, and his wits, along with copiousamounts of coffee. But little does he know that events are about to change hislife...forever.

When Conrad discovers the TravelingFair auction house has another middling who's just manifested her so-calledpowers on the auction block, he's determined to save her, regardless of risk.But what he finds out while doing so is even worse - the winning bidder worksfor a company that's just created the most dangerous chemical weapon to everhit the magical community.

Before Conrad can convince anyone atthe Watch of the danger, he's exposed for what he really is. Now, stripped ofrank, magical objects, friends and allies, Conrad has to try to save the worldwith only his wits. Thankfully though, no one's taken away his coffee.

"Shvartsman delivers real magic action and surprise twists...You're going to want more."--Esther M. Fiesner, Nebula-award winning author of the national bestseller, Warchild.