City of Others

Poon debuts and launches an urban fantasy series with an impressive adventure about civil servants working to save the world from threats that most people don’t notice. Ben Toh puts his abilities as a Gardner—one with the power “to shape the elements and energies of [his] own soul,” allowing enhanced reflexes and emotional control—to use for Singapore’s Department for Engagement of Unusual Stakeholders, the underresourced agency tasked with controlling supernatural beings. When his coworker Jimmy, a peppy psychic, accuses Ben’s boyfriend, Adam, of being involved in strange happenings around a housing complex that seems to blink in and out of existence, Adam divulges that he can “dive” into the realm beyond visible reality and that he has been investigating the building on his own. Reluctantly bringing Adam into the mission, the team, which also includes Mei, a witch with a shadowy past, learns that the anomaly is being caused by one old man’s grief. The investigation lands Ben and Adam in danger from an organization hoping to monetize the hole in reality, leading to multiple kidnapping attempts and an inadvisable deal with the jinn. Poon’s sharp wit, charming ensemble cast, and astute sense of Ben’s interior struggles make this a tense delight. Readers will be eager for more. (Jan.)