David B. Coe’s adventure fantasy “Night of Two Moons” was one of the most popular tales in Black Gate 4. Over the last two decades he’s had a stellar career in fantasy — his LonTobyn trilogy and five-book Winds of the Forelands established him as a leading voice in adventure fantasy; and under the name D.B. Jackson he also writes the Thieftaker Chronicles, a historical urban fantasy for Tor. Shadow’s Blade, the third volume in The Case Files of Justis Fearsson, a contemporary urban fantasy featuring a hardboiled, magic-using private detective, was released by Baen last week.

Justis Fearsson is a weremyste and a private detective. He wields potent magic, but every month, on the full moon, he loses his mind. His battles with insanity have already cost him his job as a cop; he can’t afford to let them interfere with his latest case.

Phoenix has become ground zero in a magical war, and an army of werecreatures, blood sorcerers, and necromancers has made Jay its number one target. When he is hired to track down a woman who has gone missing with her two young children, he has a hunch that the dark ones are to blame. But then he’s also brought in by the police to help with a murder investigation, and all the evidence implicates this same woman. Soon he is caught up in a deadly race to find not only the young family, but also an ancient weapon that could prove decisive in the looming conflict. Can he keep himself alive long enough to reach the woman and her kids before his enemies do? And can he claim the weapon before the people he loves, and the world he knows, are lost in a storm of flame, blood, and darkest sorcery?

We cover the second volume in the series, His Father’s Eyes, here. David is a sometime blogger for Black Gate; his most recent article series for us discussed last year’s Hugo Award controversy.

Shadow’s Blade was published by Baen on May 3, 2016. It is 320 pages, priced at $26 in hardcover, and $9.99 for the digital edition. The cover is by Alan Pollock. Read a sample chapter at David’s website.