Alexey Pehov is the award-winning author of The Chronicles of Sial, a bestseller in his native Russia. His novel Under the Sign of the Mantikor was named “Book of Year” and “Best Fantasy Novel” in 2004 by Russia’s largest fantasy magazine, World of Fantasy. We think there is more information at 
Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov
Shadow Prowler, the first fantasy novel by Russian author Alexey Pehov to be translated to English, pulls out every fantasy cliché in the book: elves, dwarves, orcs, ogres, goblins, guilds of thieves and assassins, and an evil overlord (the “Nameless One”) who is about to awaken and take over the land with an army of evil beasties. Shadow Harold (yes, that’s his name) is a master thief who, against his will, gets involved in rescuing the world from said Nameless One.
Read More
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…
this sounds like a fun one