The Truth - Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett's The Truth is another stand-alone novel, this time set in the bustling city of Ankh-Morpork (which bears no small resemblance to New York), which is home to the city ruler, Lord Vetinari the Patrician, the Unseen University for Wizards, and Guilds for everything from Assassins to Thieves, including Clowns but not mimes. Ankh-Morpork has weathered several influxes of "modern" technology in its time - the demon-inspired invention of movies (in Moving Pictures, the brief fad for "Music with Rocks In" (aka Rock and Roll, in Soul Music) - and now it has acquired a free press (The Ankh-Morpork Times) with dedicated newshounds, a staff of dwarf printers, and some readers who just want to see their amusing vegetables in the "On a Lighter Note" section. There are attempts afoot by the old aristocracy to unseat the Patrician, which The Times finds itself tangled up in, much to the annoyance of Commander Vimes of the City Watch, who's in an even worse temper than usual. William de Worde, the accidental editor and chief reporter of The Times is an attractive Pratchettesque hero, and the two villains of the story are probably the nastiest doomed hitmen outside of a Tarantino movie.