Bureau of Abnormal Affairs. The Art Thief

«Bureau of Abnormal Affairs. The Art Thief» — urban fantasy about London, where alongside the familiar reality exists the Reverse, and the protection against its dark forces is held by deviants, people with superpowers. At the center of the plot — the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs, a team far from exemplary discipline, but it is they who have to deal with what ordinary police cannot handle. The novel combines a detective investigation with a story about a world where the boundary between the visible and the hidden constantly cracks. The first book of the series immediately sets the scale of what is happening: strange incidents in the city quickly become part of a more dangerous and complicated picture.

The reason for the investigation is a call from an art gallery. The employees of the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs encounter a bride's ghost there, and this case turns out to be not a separate anomaly, but the beginning of a chain of new events. The heroes have to act in a city where any oddity can lead to a trace from another world, and a mistake costs too much. As the investigation progresses, the case goes beyond a single incident and connects supernatural phenomena, urban secrets, and a threat to the entire city.

At the center of the book — the employees of the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs. They are not flawless hunters of the supernatural, but a lively and not very organized team that has to work at the intersection of detective and supernatural. They are united not only by service but also by the constant need to make decisions in situations where ordinary rules no longer apply. An important role is also played by the very environment of deviants — people with abilities who become a shield between London and the forces of the Reverse.

«Bureau of Abnormal Affairs. The Art Thief» — the first book of the series. It introduces the structure of the world, the Bureau of Abnormal Affairs, and the main conflict between ordinary reality and the Reverse. It is best to start reading with it: here the rules of the world, the circle of characters, and the general vector of future events are laid out.