Eric Ugland does not give a lot of description at the start of the story about the characters as they get revealed with the progress of the story. At first Ben is the ordinary criminal who does everything for his own sake. He has not thought anything about anyone else in life and stealing is the only art he is skilled in. Never in his life, Ben thought that he would get a chance to improve his character and earn a good name for himself.
Then a new name and a new world are granted to him and to his surprise he has the opportunity to do good deeds in this new world. Doing good deeds is still an option that is open for him and this does not mean that he is bound to do it. However, when there are blood sucking monsters on your tail, doing good deeds can sometimes become a compulsory item for you. Saving a girl and stealing a crown makes the mission more interesting for Ben.
Killing Them Awfully and Second Story Man are linked to other worlds too so this is the real strength of the author in almost all of his novels. Neil Hellegers is not a new voice in the fantasy world so the old fans know the capability of the narrator to produce gems.
The narrator does not attempt to make anything over charming, rather he sticks to the proper plan which he chalks out at the start of the story. Eric has never drifted from the plan which he designs for the narration of a novel and this is his strong point.