This first book is pretty good. It has a few things that separates it from other books in the genre including: Urban Fantasy world, a street fighting premise, and an under powered MC. While it’s true that life kicks the MC in the face more often than not, the MC does triumph at pivotal moments in the book. The story is entertaining enough that I went head and bought book 2 right away.
The bad thing is that book two takes a big step down from book 1 as politics begin to enter the writing, so if you are thinking of buying this to pursue a series, it’s something to keep in mind.