Wicked Bronze Ambition

385 Pages·2013·2.46 MB·English

by  Cook Glen

BAD COMPANY
He was short. He was ugly. Troops of nonhuman adventurers had enjoyed
themselves swinging through his family tree. Most must have been ill-tempered
and eternally suspicious because their descendant was in a bad mood and
suspicious all the time.
I was face-to-face with Director Relway of the Unpublished Committee for
Royal Security. Most people would not recognize the runt if he was snapping
around their ankles, but I had butted heads with him several times. He was
smiling. That was so unusual that I made sure my pockets hadn’t been picked
already.
It was too late to make sure that I had an escape route plotted.
The ugly little man commanded more genuine hurt-you power than almost
anybody but the queen of the underworld. He could intimidate the King himself,
and all the sane people on the Hill. Irk Deal Relway and you could fall off the
stage of the world forever.
Irk him badly enough and he might arrange for you never to have existed at
all.
PRAISE FOR THE GARRETT, P.I., NOVELS
“A wild science fiction mystery that never slows down for a moment.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Garrett, private detective, returns after too long an absence. . . . Cook makes
this blending of fantasy with hard-boiled detective story seem easy, which it
isn’t, and manages to balance the requirements of both genres superbly.”
—Chronicle
“Cook brings a dose of gritty realism to fantasy.”
—Library Journal
Titles in the Garrett, P.I., Series
Sweet Silver Blues
Bitter Gold Hearts
Cold Copper Tears
Old Tin Sorrows
Dread Brass Shadows
Red Iron Nights
Deadly Quicksilver Lies
Petty Pewter Gods
Faded Steel Heat
Angry Lead Skies
Whispering Nickel Idols
Cruel Zinc Melodies
Gilded Latten Bones
Introducing Garrett, P.I. (omnibus edition) Garrett Takes the Case (omnibus
edition) Garrett for Hire (omnibus edition)
WICKED BRONZE AMBITION
A GARRETT, P.I., NOVEL
GLEN COOK
A ROC BOOK
ROC
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
USA | Canada | UK | Ireland | Australia | New Zealand | India | South Africa | China Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England For more information about the
Penguin Group visit penguin.com.
First published by Roc, an imprint of New American Library, a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Copyright © Glen Cook, 2013
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted
materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA ISBN 978-1-10162639-9
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business
establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
Contents
Praise
Titles in the Garrett, P.I., Series
Title Page
Copyright Page

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Chapter 57
Chapter 58
Chapter 59
Chapter 60
Chapter 61
Chapter 62
Chapter 63
Chapter 64
Chapter 65
Chapter 66
Chapter 67
Chapter 68
Chapter 69
Chapter 70
Chapter 71
Chapter 72
Chapter 73
Chapter 74
Chapter 75
Chapter 76
Chapter 77
Chapter 78
Chapter 79
Chapter 80
Chapter 81
Chapter 82
Chapter 83
Chapter 84
Chapter 85
Chapter 86
Chapter 87
Chapter 88
Chapter 89
Chapter 90
Chapter 91
Chapter 92
Chapter 93
Chapter 94
Chapter 95
Chapter 96
Chapter 97
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100