Unclean Spirits

Denver is lousy with monsters and mayhem in this urban fantasy series launch by epic fantasist Daniel Abraham (The Long Price Quartet series), his first venture under the Hanover pen name. Stereotypically plucky heroine Jayné Heller stumbles into a world of dangerous magic when she inherits a distant uncles fortune and his difficulties with a clan of malicious supernatural beings. Jayné likewise gains her uncles loose conglomerate of useful friends, all of whom have about one character trait apiece (the chef, the Frenchman, the ex-Jesuit), and she plots with them to destroy her uncles murderer, the sinister Randolph Coin. When trouble threatens, Jayné displays startling monster-fighting abilities, belatedly attributed to her uncle's blessing. Abrahams smooth prose and zippy action sequences sag under the weight of clichés. (Dec. )