My Thoughts on the Novella, Faerie Protective Services (Faerie Protective Services Inc. Book 1), 3/11/2026…

To me, any book or movie that claims to be “action-packed” must live up to the standards that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom had set over forty years ago. Trust me, it’s a high bar. The film began its rip-roaring ride from the first few frames to the end of its 1 hour and 58-minute runtime.

By this metric, the novella, Faerie Protective Services (Faerie Protective Services Inc. Book 1), by Robert McKinney, is not an “action-packed urban fantasy adventure.” It has its good points, and I plan to read the second one, but it had only two action events in the entire story.

Aden Flint, the protagonist and narrator of FPS, is a tough, half-orc who served in the U.S. Army and for the Erlking (Iron Lord of goblins, half-bloods, and orcs) before becoming a bodyguard for hire in El Paso, Texas. Of course, in true hardboiled, noir fashion, a femme fatale by the name of Tatiana enters his office one day with a case that upends and risks the half-orc’s life.

But of course, he takes the case.

The rest of the novella takes place on a highway leading to the border between the U.S. and Mexico, as well as in (the land of) Faerie itself.

At times, McKinney’s metaphors made no sense to me. I’m not going to repeat any here, but if you have to stop and think about the comparison a metaphor makes while you read a piece of literature, then you know that there is something amiss.

I recommend this book to readers of urban fantasy, but if annoying author quirks keep you from enjoying a work, perhaps you should pass on this one. I will give this series a chance, though; I’ve added the second book to my TBR.