God, this was such a fun little romp. It was somehow Alternate History, Science Fiction, Fantasy and a little bit of Horror all at the same time, with an amusing buddy-cop dynamic laid on top of it. All in 130 pages!

Unsurprisingly it was pretty reminiscent of the only other book by this author that I've read, [b:Ring Shout|49247242|Ring Shout|P. Djèlí Clark|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580134382l/49247242.SY75.jpg|74693559]. Completely different setting and era and vibe, but what they had in common was a desire to tell a story quickly, and leave out anything that wasn't necessary. Sure, there was maybe a paragraph or two of exposition here and there to flesh out the worldbuilding (which I was wholly enraptured with by the way; I haven't enjoyed a setting this much since I read [b:Noor|57632292|Noor|Nnedi Okorafor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1618407986l/57632292.SY75.jpg|90269668]), but it was never so long as to affect the pace of the story. The personable protagonist, Hamed, plays the experienced agent who's saddled with bringing a starry-eyed new recruit up to speed, and he was a fun foil to a cast of brief but distinct side characters. And I loved the Islamic spin on all of the descriptions and details.

I think a short review is fitting for a short book, but yeah. Really enjoyed this one and I'm interested to see where the rest of this series goes. If you're looking for a quick little adventure, pick this one up.