Kazimir Wolfe has been on the run since he was a teenager. It started the night that unknown assailants killed his aunt while he was out, and he has been on the run from those killers ever since. Those killers were looking for him that night, and from then on law enforcement has been as well, since they think he was the one who killed his aunt. Why did an unknown organization want to kill him as a teenager? Because he is wizard. And as far as Kaz knows, he is the only wizard in our modern times. And unfortunately, he isn't a very good one. I mean, there aren't any other wizards around to teach him, and It doesn't help that there isn't a lot of magic available in our world to work with. But there used to be, and now it is coming back. You would think that was a good thing for Kazimir, but not exactly. Magic seems to be building up for a "Convergence" between our realm and the Nether world, and only a wizard can stop it.
Kaz's first clue that magic is on the rise in our world, comes in the form of a talking dog - a golden retriever named Duke. It isn't that all dogs can suddenly talk, but rather that a wizard from three millennia ago attempted to reach across time and wound up inhabiting Duke's mind in an effort to communicate with Kaz. An effort that went slightly awry, hence the whole inhabiting a dog thing. After Kaz teams up with Duke, he winds up saddled with two other unexplainable traveling partners. A pair of knights that were sent through time and tasked with protecting him, so that he can prevent this Convergence. Something Kaz has no clue how to do.
It should be obvious by now that this series does not take itself too seriously, and if you have read Alanson's Expeditionary Force series then you know what you are in for, except this time within the urban fantasy genre instead of sci-fi. The premise is solid enough here and the dog is entertaining, although the dialogue can be a bit rough at times. It is too early to tell if I will stick this series out until the end, but I am intrigued enough to move on to book two and see where it goes.
The audiobook is narrated by R. C. Bray, so that means listening is a great option. This isn't Bray's usual apocalyptic genre, but he could be narrating a repair manual and I'd still be willing to listen.