PI Barley is burned out and ready for mediocre crime. No angry mages, court intrigues, irate assassins, hordes of ghouls or vampires. Unfortunately, he finds himself kidnapped by a mob boss and dragged into a war between criminal gangs. Worse still, a forgotten gate to Hades is about to unleash a demonic apocalypse.

Barley's only allies are:

• His intended, the Witch Morgana.

• Lorenzo Spasm, a spell-immune outsider from a world without magic, whose presence turns curses into boomerangs.

• Larry, an SI (Simulated Intellect) spellware downloaded into an elk skull.

• Adalbert, a cantankerous dragon with a soft spot for Barley's brand of doomed heroism.

As the city teeters on the edge of hellfire, Barley must stand tall - or get trampled by hooves, spells, and fate itself.