The Warrior: The Immortal Dealers, Book 3

Fine’s Immortal Dealers series (The Serpent, The Guardian) is designated “adult,” unlike the YA that established her career (Guards of the Shadowlands), but a YA sensibility permeates this adrenaline-packed, lightly paranormal thriller. A demigod called the Forger is responsible for chaos in the world and reigns uneasily over the Dealers, who change reality on the fly via familiars and magical cards. In other words: causation, logic, and plausibility don’t apply. Ernestine “Ernie” Terwilliger is a rookie Dealer coping with a management change. The new Forger, Virginia, has been a series villain, and the puzzle now is whether reaching the top changed her perspective or merely upped the deviousness of her game. She offers each Dealer an innocuous assignment—stopping a drunk driver, helping a man catch a train—and her wary minions undertake them to show goodwill. The cumulative result is unimaginable tragedy. Was that Virginia’s aim? Or are more moves yet to be played? Ernie’s not a teenager, but her parent-oriented emotional life, simplistic thinking, and inability to see the big picture make her sound like one. Still, she’s got the chops—and the friends—to battle through to the end. This outing will primarily appeal to current fans of the series. Agent: Kathleen Ortiz, New Leaf Literary & Media. (Mar.)