Undertow : A Novel

A frontier world on the back end of nowhere is the sort of place people go to get lost. And some of those people have secrets worth hiding, secrets that can change the future–assuming there is one. . . . André Deschênes is a hired assassin, but he wants to be so much more. If only he can find a teacher who will forgive his murderous past–and train him to manipulate odds and control probability. It’s called the art of conjuring, and it’s André’s only route to freedom. For the world he lives on is run by the ruthless Charter Trade Company, and his floating city, Novo Haven, is little more than a company town where humans and aliens alike either work for one tyrannical family–or are destroyed by it. But beneath Novo Haven’s murky waters, within its tangled bayous, reedy banks, and back alleys, revolution is stirring. And one more death may be all it takes to shift the balance. . . . A frontier world on the back end of nowhere is the sort of place people go to get lost. And some of those people have secrets worth hiding, secrets that can change the future--assuming there is one. . . .Andre Deschenes is a hired assassin, but he wants to be so much more. If only he can find a teacher who will forgive his murderous past--and train him to manipulate odds and control probability. It's called the art of conjuring, and it's Andre's only route to freedom. For the world he lives on is run by the ruthless Charter Trade Company, and his floating city, Novo Haven, is little more than a company town where humans and aliens alike either work for one tyrannical family--or are destroyed by it. But beneath Novo Haven's murky waters, within its tangled bayous, reedy banks, and back alleys, revolution is stirring. And one more death may be all it takes to shift the balance. . . .From the Paperback edition. On a remoted, frontier planet, hired assassin Andre Deschenes wants nothing more than to escape his murderous past and to find someone who can teach him the art of conjuring--the ability to manipulate odds and control probability--only to discover that his latest target is the lover of the one person who can help him escape his past