The Stranger's Woes

Fans of 2009's The Stranger will adore this imaginative sequel in three novellas from author/protagonist Frei (a pseudonym for Russian bestseller Svetlana Martynchik). In a parallel universe full of surreal wonders, Max Frei is an outsider, a lethargic slacker plucked from our own world and recruited to save the City of Echo from illegal magic. When the city's police captain is poisoned, Max%E2%80%94now Sir Max and the Nocturnal Representative of the Secret Investigative Force%E2%80%94leads his garrulous team of magicians into the Magaxon Forest to investigate a mysterious band of outlaws. Later, the king of the Unified Kingdom enlists Max to solve a delicate political conundrum with a bizarre bird-worshipping envoy, and something strange starts happening in the city's cemeteries. Vibrant characterizations, witty humor, and mind-tickling ideas almost save the narrative from countless pages of trivial dialogue that drag down the pace. (June)