The Perilous Gods

The first time Ty died he was five, the second time he was seven. He's always believed his third death will be the final one, and now he may find out. More than twenty years after his near-death experiences and the visions of terrifying gods that came with them, Ty leads a quiet life working as a locksmith. When a client persuades him to play in an ancient game of throwing bones, his peaceful existence is shattered and Ty quickly finds himself deeply in debt, his life hanging in the balance once more.

Alex Orlov is a changed man. Not because his time in Pelican Bay Prison rehabilitated him—rehabilitation is for the guilty, after all—but because helping a stranger cost him three years of his life and his dream job as a forest ranger. All Alex wants now is to stay out of other people’s business, finish his parole quietly, and to never, ever return to the harrowing experience of living behind bars.

Pahtal and his brother, Imul, have scraped a life together in pre-civil war Guatemala by finding and selling ancient relics from the Maya ruins. Their latest expedition uncovers a potentially life-changing find, a valuable tablet, etched with glyphs, hidden within the mouth of a sculpture of Nohochacyum, a god of creation–and destruction. But when they attempt to retrieve their prize, Imul is crushed beneath the stone carving.