Trailer Park Trickster

Slayton continues the story of poor, gay warlock Adam Binder in his thrilling, well-crafted sequel to White Trash Warlock. Fresh from saving the world from a malevolent being, Adam returns to his hometown of Guthrie, Okla., for the funeral of his beloved great-aunt and magic tutor, Sue. Her sudden death makes him suspicious, especially when, soon after, a shadowy, powerful druid blows up her trailer with her daughter, Noreen, and granddaughter, Jodi, inside. As Adam attempts to uncover the identity of the druid, he worries that Jodi, who survived the attack, is playing with powers beyond her knowledge and skill. With local law enforcement digging into the strange events accumulating around the Binder family and Jodi growing increasingly erratic, old secrets and unsolved mysteries begin to unravel. Meanwhile, bisexual cop-turned-reaper Vic, who’s dating and magically bound to Adam, attempts to join Adam from Denver but is waylaid by elf queen Argent. Argent takes Vic to her magical dimension, where they spy on a rival faction of elves scheming to obliterate humanity. The interweaving of Adam’s and Vic’s quests builds satisfying tension on the way to an unresolved ending that sets things up nicely for the next installment. The result is an emotionally rich page-turner. Agent: Lesley Sabga, the Seymour Agency. (Oct.)