The first book in a series lent to me by Stacy. Thanks!
It’s an appealing story about Simon Canderous, who can read the history of objects with a touch. It doesn’t always take intent, which kicks the book off with a bang. As the book goes on, we learn about his employer (the Department of Extraordinary Affairs) and we’re introduced to a few other vivid people.
The plot moves along, and poor Simon gets drug through alleys, slopped in slime, encounters a compelling ghost, raids an upscale cult headquarters, and more. His love life is horrible* [in a book sense: certainly active and compelling from my POV, but anyway…], but things turn around as it goes.
It’s similar to other “White Wolfesque” books– similar to the Dresden Files, and could easily be in the same universe. There are a lot of people who are in on the secret world– an entire Bureau in New York alone. It seems likely to spill out into public knowledge with so many people in the know… but that’s true with just about the entire genre.
In the end, it was a fun book in a sub-genre I typically like– and the power was handled interestingly enough that it didn’t trip my “been there, done that” fatigue.