The Graves Crew and the Firestar Amulet — Kenneth McDonald

The war between the Duke and the rebel Baron grinds on. Graves and his crew of misfits and ne'er-do-wells has been assigned the task of building a fortress overlooking the town of Raviston, just captured by the army of the Duke. The local population is cowed and the Baron's army is hiding far away in the mountains. It's just another job for the labor crews on the bottom rung of the Duke's forces, but Graves and his men have learned the hard way that there's no such thing as an easy job in this war. Draconian officers, criminal conspiracies, and hidden spies are the least of the troubles the notorious crew must confront on this latest project. For an ancient and malign magic slumbers in Raviston, and when it wakes Graves and his men are caught between great powers in another desperate struggle for survival. Only this time surviving isn't enough, as a representative of the all-powerful White Order has also come to Raviston, and there are secrets in the Graves crew that they would find very interesting indeed.

This is the third story in the “Graves Crew” series, after “The Graves Crew and the Restless Dead” and “The Graves Crew and the Damned Dam.”