James has developed a world that is very like ours except that it has two secret societies fighting over a number of “magical” items that featured prominently in the ancient myths of our planet but which most people and governments don’t believe in. It’s fun to see these items pulled out and given a test run both in battle and otherwise and there are a lot of very good action sequences.
The basic plot is that the “evil” secret society (the Hand) is successfully stealing items from the “good” secret society for some unknown purpose. Since the “good” secret society’s security has obviously been compromised, they hire three outsiders and use them to counter the Hand. Naturally, nothing is quite that simple–especially as they come to realize that more than one world is literally at stake.
If you like the idea of blending mythical technology with modern day action, you will enjoy this book.