Mr. Ruins: A Thriller (Ruins Sonata Book 1)

The mind is a molten core. Ritry Goligh is an ex-Arctic skirmisher working as a graysmith in the neon skulks of proto-Calico, beyond the tsunami wall. Like the barges that tile the wall's coast, he has no roots, no future, and no ambition, until a shadowy figure with an excellent hat drops the corpse of Napoleon at his feet. This is Mr. Ruins. He promises roots without compromise, and Rit signs on. In the rusted hull of a belly-up cathedral ship, in the abandoned diaspora of old-war subglacics, Ruins teaches him one indestructible lesson: the roots of the dead still exist, and can be salvaged for strength. Rit learns how, and with that new strength begins to grow again.But Mr. Ruins exacts a terrible price. In a gray-shifted world where memory is magma and consciousness a chord of seven lost marines battling through a planet's molten core, Rit must learn to fight for his mind, as well as the minds of every person he loves. Because Mr. Ruins knows them now, and wants them for himself.