Christopher Frank Wolf

The Coats of Cespen Christopher Frank Wolf

It's been five years since James had left the life of a Baron thief. He has a family now, a regular job, and friends with regular jobs. More surprisingly, he's actually up during the daytime. His current home, the Sheen Alley neighborhood, is flooded with the smiles of its residents and the chirping of birds. He's living the Straight life and keeping his friend Dell's last dyeing request: stay out of the thief game and raise his boy right. However, Red Dragon powder, the most addictive drug the city of Cespen has ever seen is running rabid throughout the other neighborhoods, causing the rest of the Seven Square sub-district to burn under the chaos of the Powder Wars. Soon those fires nip at James' doorstep and he'll have to pull his long time sheathed dagger to put them out. The Coats of Cespen starts out with the main character, James Makerin, worrying about his initiation fight for a boxing club he wants to join: the Coats. Most of his friends and co-workers already belong to the organization, and he feels that if he can't cut it he will have no future in the honest life he has worked so hard to build. His fears are un-founded. Even though he loses the bout, none of his peers hold it against him. James is welcomed with open arms. The months pass by. His new baby girl is born. Life seems good until he, along with his friends, are fired from their job due to too many robberies of product from Red Dragon Powder addicted criminals. James' home, the Seven Square sub-district, has become too lawless: the local businesses are fleeing to other safer parts of the city. James comes to a decision, either follow his employer example, or fight back. He chooses fight back. The livelihood of everyone he cares about depends on his success. James spends the rest of the book wrestling with who he was as a thief: a very powerful and respected criminal, and who he is now: a humble family man, all the while combating his old comrades of the Baron Thieves Guild. Will James stay true to the honest man he has become? Or, will he lose himself in crime and murder? Will he embrace the thief he used to be?