Black City Saint

In Knaak’s entertaining urban fantasy, set in Chicago about 50 years after the Great Fire, Nick Medea, aka Saint George, guards the Gate between the human world and the land of Feirie and does some ghostbusting on the side. When Nick meets Claryce Simone, the most recent incarnation of his long-ago love Cleolinda, she leads him to William Delke, a powerful man who is much more than he seems. Soon Nick is dodging Delke’s goons and creepy creatures from the realm called the Wyld while trying to keep the Gate from collapsing altogether. The 1920s Chicago setting is nifty, and it’s hard not to like Nick. This capable hero shares his body and consciousness with a dragon he slew centuries ago, whose powers he can call on. Nick’s shape-shifter sidekick, Fetch, is irresistible, but Claryce doesn’t do much more than follow Nick around, and her insistence that she come along coupled with her passivity once she’s included makes her more annoying than compelling. Nonetheless, Nick’s adventures are fast-paced and fun, and urban fantasy fans will enjoy the inventive setting. (Mar.)