Doubletake

The latest book in the Cal Leandros series that began with Nightlife, Doubletake is clever, ironic and hugely entertaining urban fantasy in the vein of Jim Butcher and Charlaine Harris by the New York Times bestselling author, Rob Thurman.

''Family was a hateful bitch, it was. I had the hot poker scars of that burned into my flesh, but, scars or not, sometimes family was all you had worth playing with. Maybe he would see that. Maybe he would want to play too. I played rough . . . I played to win.''

If anyone knows that having family isn''t always a good thing, it''s half-human/ half-living nightmare Cal Leandros. But for once, it''s not his relatives causing the trouble. That headache belongs to his half-brother, Niko. His ne''er-do-well father is in town. He needs a favour, and if Niko refuses, it just might doom the entire city.

Yet an even more dangerous reunion is in the works. The entire lying, stealing, hormonally charged Puck race (including the brothers'' lethally charismatic friend Robin Goodfellow) is in town for their millennial meeting - and to hold a lottery that no Puck wants to win.

As Cal tries to keep both Niko and Robin from paying the ultimate price for their kin, a horrific reminder from Cal''s own past arrives to remind him that blood is thicker than water . . . and that''s why it''s so much more frightening to spill.

A compelling contemporary fantasy with a witty and dark edge, Rob Thurman''s Doubletake should not be missed.

Praise for Rob Thurman:

''All the great elements I''ve come to expect from this writer'' Charlaine Harris

''Thurman delivers in spades'' SFRevu

''A roaring rollercoaster of a read . . . it''ll take your breath away'' Simon R. Green

Rob Thurman lives in Indiana, land of rolling hills and cows. Lots and lots of cows. Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse and Deathwish, the previous novels in the Cal Leandros series, are also published by Penguin. Visit Rob at www.robthurman.net.