That woman, it turns out, is important to another party on the scene: Mr. Patrice Who, in his turn, appears to run a lot of the City -- or, more accurately, the Levee, the place where the city of men and the strange world of the elves now overlap. Mr. Patrice doesn't forget a favor. So suddenly Danny has a new name, and a job. He's now Doc Hallows -- house medic for Mr. Patrice's various clubs and other enterprises.

For Mr. Patrice needs a house medic. It's a dangerous business, being an underworld boss who cares about people. Even more dangerous in a Chicago full of unearthly and sometimes deadly enchantment. Now weightier matters loom, entailing big guns and bigger magic. And there'll be plenty of opportunities for a smart young man to make a mark.

Doc knows he holds some kind of unusual power. Mr. Patrice knows it too. So does the beautiful Ginevra Benci. And so does the sorcerous Whisper-Who-Dares, who offers threats and temptations far beyond anything Doc ever imagined.

By turns brutal and delicate, murderous and metaphysical, The Last Hot Time is a fantasy novel unlike any other, a brilliant dance of genres and storylines leading to a thoroughly unusual conclusion.