Strings: Book One of The Winter Saga (PB) (2021)

Caleb Fleischer bags groceries and slays monsters. Armed with his magical tome and scythe, Caleb has spent his whole life keeping the small town of Orion, Illinois safe from mystical threats. But all he wants, all he's ever wanted, was to live a normal, simple life. No magic. No monsters. No fighting.

Then Heather O'Brien shows up and drags Caleb to Chicago to assist with her mysteriously ill mother. It should be a simple job, but not all is as it seems. The magical organization, The Guild of Life, has its own plans that threaten the whole city.

Caleb's life gets plunged into a dangerous cycle of magic, monsters, and fighting as he struggles against this malicious plot. But the deeper he sinks into battle, the more he realizes he must confront the ghosts of his abusive past. And if he stands any chance of succeeding, Caleb will have to face the choice between living the life he wants to live, and the life the citizens of Chicago need him to live.