It was fate that led me to the Alex Verus Novels by Benedict Jacka

 The first of the Alex Verus novels, Fated, brings an interesting character to light.  Those fond of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher will appreciate Alex's wit and disarming banter.  We are introduced to someone who never wanted to be a hero - who just wanted to be left alone to pick up the pieces of a troubled past and try to have some semblance of a normal life.  Alex tries to forget about his former Master, the Dark Mage who trained him and then enslaved him, by running a shop of arcane merchandise in London.  Most of his patrons are your average, ordinary person with no magical abilities.  Thus, Alex keeps himself off the radar of the Council.  After all, they'd done nothing to protect him when they learned what his former Master had done to him and his fellow apprentices - what could Alex possibly want to do with them now?

Of course, his choice in the matter changes when suddenly he's the only diviner left in England and the clock is ticking to figure out how to retrieve a dangerous artifact that would surely grant the wielder enough power to turn the fates of all mages the world over.  Alex just wants to be left alone to live his life.  But in order to do that, he has to ensure that the artifact doesn't fall into the hands of the dark mages who've kidnapped him and threatened one of his closest friends.

Being able to see into the future should be a help.  But people are unpredictable, and Alex's only advantage is his determination to see things through.  He will not run from the danger that swirls around him at every turn.  He's spent 10 years living on the outskirts of the magical community.  But he's never run from a fight, and he's not going to start now.  He weighs the probabilities and tracks down the courses of action that allow him to get his friends to safety, and thus creates a new future for himself - one that he would never have predicted.

Alex Verus is the kind of guy to let you tell the same story over and over again, even though he figured out the punch line before you told it to him the first time.  And he's the kind of guy who'd run into a burning building to rescue a team of telemarketers.  He's also the kind of guy to throw assassins off roofs and not think twice about it.  Basically - he's the kind of guy you'd be lucky to have as a friend.  I'm looking forward to getting to know Alex more as the series continues.