"A secret war of wizards in the modern world" is a story that has been told many time, and The Library at Mount Char is perhaps the best example of the subgenre, creepy and cosmological in scope.

Carolyn is one of 12 Librarians, disciples of all-powerful and near-immortal sorcerer named Father. She and her 11 fellow librarians were plucked from American suburbia after a disaster that left them all orphans, and raised in the Old Ways. Each Librarian is a master of their catalog, a specific branch of the magical arts. Carolyn speaks all human languages, Michael talks to animals, David is a lethal warrior, Margaret can wander the realm of the dead, others can raise the dead, see the future that will be, all the futures that might be, etc. This is real power, god-like real power, but it has its costs. All of the Librarians are to some extent insane, with David and Margaret leading the charts. Father has one unbreakable rule, no reading outside your catalog, and is willing to torture to death any of his pupils who breaks that rule, above and beyond the regular torture and murder that is part of training at the Library.

Father is all-power and all-knowing. He's ruled as supreme magical power for over 60,000 years. And he has also just disappeared, leaving a powerful ward has locked his Librarians out of their Library. The plot follows Carolyn as she leads the Librarians in an investigation. But she's playing a devious game, because she's behind Father's disappearance, and she needs to arrange circumstances to succeed him without being killed by the murderous David. The story explodes and resolves in an extremely satisfying way.

The secondary plotlines, with retired burglar Steve and DHS supernatural troubleshooter Erwin, lack the razzledazzle of Carolyn's story. I quite liked hard-luck Steve as a character, but Hawkins never seemed to nail Erwin's voice beyond gruff cliches. Still, the strong parts of this book are so strong they rise above the weaknesses. Simply incredible.