Order of Dust

The fast-paced but sketchy first adventure in Evans’s For Humans, for Demons series begins with the murder of mild-mannered banker Jackson Crowe. After his death, Jackson finds himself in the Paragon—a resting place between the living world and the beyond. He’s greeted by the powers that be: Azazel the Ender and Usra the Creator, who induct him into the Order of Dust and task him with returning to Earth to dispatch the UnAscended, dead souls who refuse to move on and instead commandeer human bodies for their own use. Fueled by the desire to avenge the death of his girlfriend, who he now realizes was killed by an UnAscended, Jackson returns to the realm of the living to hunt down evil with the help of a brace of pistols: one for humans, one for demons. Though the exciting premise of Evans’s debut will appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Supernatural, Jackson is a hazily drawn hero, receiving little development beyond becoming increasingly rugged and angsty as the book goes on. Readers hoping for a grimdark take on demon hunter fantasy will be pleased, but will long for more depth in future installments. (Oct.)