The powerful psychic Inquisitor Ravenor, trapped within a life-support chair after a terrible accident, unravels a conspiracy among the spires of Eustis Majoris with the aid of his talented agents. Something foul is afoot on the world of Eustis Majoris. A new drug called Flect, in which the addict gets high by gazing into a small mirror-shard, has caught the attention of the heresy-fighting Inquisition of the Hellican subsector. The famed Inquisitor Ravenor, possessing one of the most powerful psychic minds in the Imperium but bound to the life-support mechanisms of his floating chair, arrives to investigate, with his retinue of powerful agents in tow. The agents include the pulchritudinous stealth operative Kara Swole, telekinetic Patience Kys, grizzled mercenary Harlon Nayl, and aristocratic second-in-command Interrogator Carl Thonius.
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On Eustis, the team locates Flect addict and potential psychic Zael, and begin working their way up the chain through street dealers. Their investigation causes friction with local Magistratum officers, including Martha Plyton.
Eventually the investigation leads to the Carnivora, a circus full of bizarre alien beasts. The agents infiltrate the circus and find their target, but not before the arrival of sinister psychic Kinsky. They find that the circus' master, Skoh, is using the show to smuggle flects from an off-world source. Ravenor interrogates circus member Duboe psychically and finds a reference to something called Contract 13.
The trail then leads to the planet of Bonner's Reach, where the agents attempt to contact ship captain Siskind. Ravenor discovers that Siskind is the product of the evil Cognitae eugenics program, which Ravenor helped disband in his earlier career. Meanwhile, Zael's burgeoning psychic dreams reveal that the meeting is a trap. As Ravenor's agents walk into a fight, the agents of the enemy manage to seize control of Ravenor's ship, the Hinterlight.
On board the Hinterlight, things come to a head. The ship is caught in the pull of the system's sun, and another ship, the Oktober Country, run by Siskind's colleague Thekla, After a struggle, the agents overcome their foes onboard the Hinterlight, and Ravenor is able to use his psychic powers to cause Thekla to lower his ship's shields, allowing the team to annihilate their foe. Quick actions at the helm pull the ship away from the star, saving everyone on board. Ravenor discovers the true nature of Contract 13: it is an arrangement between interstellar Rogue Traders and the sector government allowing the smuggling of alien materials. The Flects are only one manifestation of the arrangement, and not the primary motivation for it. Ravenor and his agents head back to Eustis to discover the true purpose of the plot.
Meanwhile, Carl Thonius has become addicted to the Flects, an action that will have dire consequences...
Best part of story, including ending:
Abnett once again demonstrates his aptitude with an ensemble cast, providing unique voices for all of Ravenor's throne agents.
Best scene in story:
The psychic duels between Ravenor and Kinsky are well-described, preserving a sense of the otherworldly, as does the confrontation at the Carnivora.
Opinion about the main character:
Ravenor showcases the hollowness that infects some of Abnett's protagonists; he is basically a bottomlessly-loyal shell. In a few moments, Ravenor's feelings of loss around his crippling accident shines through, but those moments are few and far between.
