Full Fathom Five

In the rich and complex world of Gladstone’s third Craft novel (after Three Parts Dead), the tropical island of Kavekana thrives as an offshore investment haven for the soulstuff driving the economy. The idols of Kavekana are supposed to be neutral repositories of grace, maintained by priests like Kai Pohala on behalf of clients around the world. After Kai tries to rescue the failing idol Seven Alpha, she discovers that the idols may have more self-awareness than anyone believed. Badly injured in the rescue attempt and sidelined from her vocation, Kai uncovers a conspiracy with grave implications for Kavekana. Kai is a driven, spiky transgender heroine, and the rest of the diverse cast is just as much of a pleasure to follow, including teenage Izza, thief and head storyteller to a gang of street kids, and three formidable women from the previous books: ex-policewoman Cat, risk assessor Teo, and Craftswoman Elayne Kevarian. Gladstone continues to trump his already considerable accomplishments in this tightly paced fantasy legal thriller. (July)