Writing e-shorts has become de rigueur for successful sci-fi/fantasy series, but Cassandra Clare has apparently decided to go the extra mile -- ten stories devoted to her immortal warlock Marcus Bane. 
 Unfortunately, "What Really Happened in Peru" gets the e-short series off to a rocky start. The biggest problem is that this is not actually story -- it's a string of half-written anecdotes that aren't really fleshed out into an actual story. Any of these would make an amusing short story about why Bane can't go to Peru, but none of them really have a solid beginning or ending. 
 The story (stories?) follow Magnus Bane's adventures in Peru over the years with his friends Ragnor and Catarina -- a journey into the jungle, a merchant who wants their help thwarting guano pirates, recovering gold from an ancient temple, a love affair with a young man enchanted with Magnus' music, a nasty illness in the countryside, and an encounter with a beautiful young thief. 
 I can only speculate on how this story was written, but it feels a bit like Cassandra Clare just tossed some vague story ideas at Sarah Rees Brennan and had her write a story based on them. And I don't mean summaries -- I mean things like "So maybe this girl asks them to go looking for Aztec gold... ooh! How about Magnus and Ragnor end up in a ship full of bat poop? Make a cohesive story out of that!" 
 That's the only possible explanation I can think of. Sarah Rees Brennan is a very good writer in her own right, and she brings a witty edge and some elegant prose to this story. But she has nothing to work with, and nothing to work toward. It's like a talented painter forced to paint on a dried leaf. 
 None of these anecdotes are actually real stories, let alone a cohesive narrative. It's a collection of brief anecdotes, most of which are only a few scenes long -- and while there are some nice moments, like the romance between Magnus and Imasu, it all feels rushed. Some of these anecdotes would have made a nice short story, and others are painfully pointless. 
 Most wretchedly, the actual events that MIGHT have gotten Bane banned from Peru (but didn't) are always summed-up briefly -- and of course, these are the most interesting aspects of the stories. We're not SHOWN the warlocks invading an ancient Peruvian temple, Lara Croft-style. We're just told that hey, it happened. 
 "What Really Happened in Peru" is a waste of Sarah Rees Brennan's talents, and the promise of a mysterious immortal character. Hopefully the rest of this e-series will be better.