Marked

Alex Verus, a diviner in London, has spent years on the wrong side of Britain's mage establishment. Now he sits on the Light Council, and almost nobody wants him there, Alex least of all. Keeping his friends safe means learning to play power politics from the inside.

His first assignment is to hunt down hazardous magical items that Dark Mages have released into the world. The work is part salvage operation, part damage control, and it puts him in uneasy company.

Then the Council decides it needs him at the negotiating table with the people responsible. Alex has to draw on all his cunning and magic to reach a deal. Tension is rising between the Council, the Dark Mages and the adept community, and a misstep could turn it into a bloodbath.

Marked is book nine of the Alex Verus urban fantasy series. It is told in a dry, wry voice, with Council manoeuvring and strained friendships running through it. Readers new to the series will meet Alex already deep in the politics he used to avoid.