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.

Jim Butcher's first published work, "Storm Front," is an invitation to enjoy all this author has to write.

Meet Harry Dresden, Wizard.  He is a sarcastic, snappy, angry, lonely, kind young man who honestly wants to help people.  Living in Chicago, a city known for its corruption (and not just of the human origin) means that there's always someone around for Harry to help.


In "Storm Front," Harry finds himself helping the Chicago police, and sassy Special Investigations Detective Karrin Murphy, on a murder case involving black magic.  But the detectives aren't the only ones who want this case solved.  Local mob boss, Gentleman Johnny Marcone, has a vested interest in the assailant as well, as the victims were on his payroll.  But Harry is really put under pressure to find the bad guy when the Wardens from the White Council of Wizards start thinking that Harry might be the one behind the attack.


You see, it turns out that Harry doesn't have the cleanest record with the Wardens.  In fact, he's under something known as the Doom of Damocles.  Meaning, if he slips up one time - breaks even the tiniest of Wizard laws - he'll be executed without trial, and Warden Morgan will be all too happy to carry out that sentence.


With the police, mob, and a crying damsel-in-distress begging for justice, and the Wardens sharpening their swords, Harry has to find the Black Mage quick, but he'll do it with a lot of sass and only causing damage to two buildings in the process.


Harry's level of sass is near astronomical, but we find we like that about him.  He has a way of putting people at ease when they are faced with gore and pain, and he does it by making them laugh.  He is often the butt of his own jokes, and we learn that his self-deprecating remarks stem from a painful (physically and emotionally) childhood, but that is also where his unending drive to help others was born as well.  He may sass at Warden Morgan, but he won't back down from a fight when there are lives on the line.


The introduction to Harry Dresden, Wizard, is a promising start to a new series.