Jameson Parker is a warlock, a government sanctioned and controlled wizard with his magic being limited to whatever he can have signed off by Whitehall's bureaucrats. Jameson is however okay with that seeing as how the power of his magic once consumed him and made him into the 'dark lord of Hampshire'. Oh and if he used his magic without permission his bosses may explode his heart. When fires begin sprouting up all over Humberside City it is obvious an arsonist is involved and when a magical connection is inferred Jameson is sent to investigate. However with his government bosses having major trust issues with him and the other local warlocks looking to start their own revolution, things may get complicated.
As with most urban-fantasy novels, this one is written from a first person perspective and like other novels in this genre the key to a great read is having an engaging lead character. Jameson Parker certainly ticks all the right boxes. There are similarities to Harry Dresden and Bobby Dollar but these are largely superficial and I did enjoy his 'Britishness' and his surprisingly playful nature.
The world-building is pretty interesting without being overbearing and I felt that Peacock used the setting of Humberside well enough.
Pacing is well-controlled with never a lull throughout proceedings. I did enjoy the theme of the lead character having to rely on other non-magical solutions and thought this was worked rather cleverly into the conclusion.
My only minor gripe was with the random paragraph breaks mid-sentence which were distracting and broke the flow. It was also something that could have been easily remedied.
Overall Peacock delivers a a strong lead-character driven novel and I can't wait to see where the next novel takes us. 8.5/10.
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