Format: Kindle, 295 pages
Release Date: January 20, 2026
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Genre: Urban Fantasy
A dangerous game of ancient power will push the last raven to the edge of his limits in the fifth installment of this hardboiled fantasy noir series.
Lucas Rurik is used to being on the bad end of a terrible deal. He’s survived wars, seen his entire Guild murdered, and saved reality from certain doom more times than he’d care to count. But none of that has prepared him for the mess he’s currently in.
It seems his nemesis, Dr. Callie Mitchell, has tapped into the deepest magic in the Rift and destroyed one of the oldest rift-fused beings, tasked with ensuring the balance of power in the universe. No one knows what she’ll do next, and the surviving Ancients seem too distracted by their petty squabbles to take matters into their own all-powerful hands. So it’s once again up to Lucas to poke his nose where it doesn’t belong and attempt to negotiate with beings that most definitely don’t want to be reasoned with.
The clock is ticking, and Lucas will have to tap alliances and use every trick he has up his sleeve to stop a cosmically mighty madwoman on a mission. And time isn’t the only thing working against him. The secrets he uncovers could spell the undoing of everything, both on Earth and in the Rift . . .
Lucas Rurik is used to being on the bad end of a terrible deal. He’s survived wars, seen his entire Guild murdered, and saved reality from certain doom more times than he’d care to count. But none of that has prepared him for the mess he’s currently in.
It seems his nemesis, Dr. Callie Mitchell, has tapped into the deepest magic in the Rift and destroyed one of the oldest rift-fused beings, tasked with ensuring the balance of power in the universe. No one knows what she’ll do next, and the surviving Ancients seem too distracted by their petty squabbles to take matters into their own all-powerful hands. So it’s once again up to Lucas to poke his nose where it doesn’t belong and attempt to negotiate with beings that most definitely don’t want to be reasoned with.
The clock is ticking, and Lucas will have to tap alliances and use every trick he has up his sleeve to stop a cosmically mighty madwoman on a mission. And time isn’t the only thing working against him. The secrets he uncovers could spell the undoing of everything, both on Earth and in the Rift . . .
A Murder of Crows is the Fifth and final installment in author Steve McHugh's Riftborn series. The Riftborn series follows Lucas Rurik, the last surviving member of the Raven Guild—a riftborn operative with unique abilities tied to a parallel magical realm called the Rift. The books blend hardboiled detective vibes, supernatural action, and escalating threats involving ancient powers, rift-fused beings, and dangerous human (or near-human) antagonists.
Lucas has endured wars, the murder of his entire Guild, and multiple reality-saving crises. In A Murder of Crows, his longtime nemesis, Dr. Callie Mitchell—a brilliant but unhinged scientist obsessed with rift magic—crosses a catastrophic line. She taps into the deepest forces of the Rift and eliminates one of the Ancients: ancient, rift-fused entities meant to maintain universal balance. With the surviving Ancients distracted by their own petty conflicts, the burden falls on Lucas and his allies once again.
He must negotiate with beings who have little interest in cooperation, forge uneasy alliances, and deploy every trick, skill, and favor at his disposal to stop a threat that could unravel both Earth and the Rift. Secrets uncovered along the way carry devastating personal and existential weight, pushing Lucas to his absolute limits. Lucas's allies aren't just convenient sidekicks; they're competent professionals who evolve into a genuine found family.
They communicate openly, offer and accept help, show vulnerability without turning it into endless angst, and balance ruthlessness (when permanently neutralizing threats) with real care and loyalty. Compared to McHugh's Hellequin work, Riftborn starts a bit more grounded in noir/detective mode before expanding, which some may love for its growth, and others might find slower to hook them initially.
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