This is the beginning of a series by Patricia Briggs. When I finished the novel, I wished I had purchased the other books.

Ward, a nineteen year old idiot, is the main character. But he’s not an idiot, he’s just been playing one because his father is a murderer and has it out for him. He has a deaf sister whose growth into adulthood has brought some troubles and a suicidal brother who is missing, presumed dead, by all but Ward.

The cast of characters is large and they are all individualized. You don’t mistake one for the other.

The milieu is diverse, ranging through the entire Five Kingdoms, but begins, and ends, in Hurog, Ward’s home and homeland.

The story is the fascinating tale of a young man’s struggle to be good in a world that is very evil. He succeeds, despite an abusive father and a drug-laced mother.

Read it. But by the whole series before you start.