Ever since Bill Quigley was introduced as Tom's copper best friend in Hexbreaker, I—and I suspected a great deal of other readers—have been waiting for this book. Bill has been a player in every major novel of the Hexworld series. He's been ready to put his well being and career on the line every time to help the Metropolitan Witch Police and their familiar counterparts, but his personal life has always remained elusive. Even when it became clear throughout the overarching plot that Bill had developed feelings toward Isaac, Cicero's best friend who had been kidnapped and horribly abused in Hexbreaker, nothing ever progressed between the two. They kept one another at arm's length.

Until now.

As it turns out, Bill has been in love with Isaac for two years. But because of the trauma Isaac has experienced, his refusal to shift, and even the way he visibly cringes in fear, Bill has done nothing to pursue the sweet familiar. And it's become clear at this point, whatever chance Bill may have once upon a time had, he's lost it. It's been too long between them, and if Isaac were to develop any feelings for Bill, surely it'd have happened at this point?

I love Bill as a leading character because he's very much an Everyday Man and is able to be a practical counterbalance to the rest of the cast. He doesn't have rare and powerful magic like Tom, nor is he a millionaire like Owen. He's not an ex-solider like Jamie... he's just a regular New York detective, not even a great one at that, whose boss dislikes him, whose love life is nothing more than his own hand in an empty bed, whose schooling isn't even that good, as subtle moments throughout the book suggest by Bill's messy penmanship and lack of understanding toward certain, famous myths and stories. But what makes Bill remarkable is his humbleness. He's a down to earth good man, looking to do the right thing in a tough world, and whose capacity to respect and listen to a significant other is a rare commodity to be cherished.

And that is the sort of person Isaac deserves to have at his side. Isaac, like Bill, has been seen throughout the plot. He's been through the meat grinder, having been brutalized by the witch his magic desired to bond with, kidnapped, siphoned of his magic until it nearly killed him, and now that he's returned to the safety of the MWP, the clock is ticking for him to bond. Isaac has been unable to shift to his dog form—the magic feels wrong. Tainted. The reason his life has been flipped upside down. He honestly wants to forget that part of himself and be stuck in human form forever. But there is a connection between him and Bill, a gentle patience, love, persistence, and belief that Isaac is none of these things. That he is a survivor. Strong. Capable of love. And deserving of life.

Add to this uncertain back and forth between our heroes, nearly a dozen orphans of familiar potential have gone missing, a nun has been murdered, and previous plots to control and manipulate the familiar population have not been forgotten.

Every single book that Jordan L. Hawk writes is a damn masterpiece of character studies, romance, and vivid imagination beyond the potential of most people. I've said it in every review and I'll say it again: read the Hexworld series. Read it again and again, and again for good measure.