An ex-gangster. A mysterious old woman. A mythological world of magic and danger hiding behind everyday life.
  Fresh out of jail, Umeji Tatsuya seeks redemption in a small town, far from his Yakuza ties. He’s barely moved in when the town’s feisty dowager, Nakamura Hisako, discovers the tattoos that mark him as an ex-mobster. She hounds his every step as she tries to make him leave, but Umeji is determined.
  Seeking a break from the ridicule leads him to an out of the way shrine where he discovers Nakamura has a secret of her own: she's a kitsune, an ancient fox spirit—like in the stories Umeji read when he was a kid. But Nakamura is undeniable proof that those tales are true and mythical beings blend in among human kind.
  Nakamura offers a truce. Keep her secret and she'll help him forge a mob-free future, starting with learning magic. Just when things are looking up, Umeji’s training is interrupted. Date, a kitsune with a centuries-old grudge against Nakamura and a taste for turning former Yakuza members into vicious ogre-like oni to do her bidding, brings destruction in her wake. Worse yet, the one person who could drag Umeji back into the mob shows up on his doorstep, under Date’s control.
  Is Umeji the next victim in Date’s sights? Or is there more to this magical threat than he wants to believe...
 

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Rise: The Liminal Chronicles is Copyright 2024 by Amy Winters-Voss. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in print or electronic form without prior permission of the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Please respect the hard work of the authors and do not participate in or encourage the piracy of copyrighted materials.

English Japanese Mythology Magic Mythological Japan Historical Fantasy Urban Fantasy Asian Myth starting over yakuza two timelines adventure slow burn gangster Myth