Don't Let the Monsters Out of the Closet

Far Island is where, once, magical crystals were mined. But the mines are abandoned, and the island has become a refuge for fishermen, fortune-hunters, and magicians. From the world hide those who couldn’t return to peaceful life. The blind Seer lays out cards; the imperial Tracker patrols the coastline, settling local squabbles; and a former paratrooper runs around with a dream of a rich widow. Everything changes when new leadership arrives on Far Island.

The former analyst Beksheyev is convinced that the dozen missing women are connected to Far Island somehow. Let them not believe him out on the big mainland. After all, he has “burned out” like many others. But the remnants of his gift whisper: he’s right. And the death of the cheerful guy Mishka—attempted to be passed off as an accident—only convinces Beksheyev of that.

The rest is a matter of finding the missing, catching the killer, and figuring out what’s really going on in this provincial backwater.