I read this Tim Powers’ story in a chapbook edition which is now something of an expensive collector’s item.
You can get it cheaply now as part of The Bible Repairman and Other Stories.
I suppose I should add that, absent the annoying Amazon star system, I’m recommending this one.
Review: The Bible Repairman, Tim Powers, 2005.
In California, a secret magical underground exists. Souls of the dead haunt electronic equipment. Bibles are cleansed of offending verses, and the blood of murderers stills the whispers of the dead.
But, as always in Powers, magic comes at a price. Wizard Torrez, the bible repairman, has a soul tainted by murder, a dead child, a broken marriage, and an intellect leaking away. And a new client wants to take away what little he has left.
While taking place in a world reminiscent of his novel Expiration Date, there is no secret history here, no grand conspiracies — just a subtle tale of loss, sin, and sacrifice.
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MarzAat 