John

Book five of the ongoing supernatural spy series, and a good read. In this outing, the Drood family faces a resurgent Satanist conspiracy. Yes, Satanist, as in devil worshippers who revel in human sacrifices. Ongoing traitors in the Drood family continually hamper Eddie and his family as they try to wipe out this new conspiracy, and their mysterious Grand Sacrifice. A lot of twists and turns along the way, including some unexpected and terribly poignant sacrifices among the Drood. Along the way, Eddie comes face-to-face with the realization that sometimes his motives are not amongst the purest, and put his own soul in jeopardy. My only disappointment is that one of the betrayers is telegraphed fairly early and obviously, and I wanted to hit Eddie upside the head to warn him of the impending knife in the back. And just as in the previous book, the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, leading directly (one hopes) into the next book. I guess I'll find out for sure soon.Book five of the ongoing supernatural spy series, and a good read. In this outing, the Drood family faces a resurgent Satanist conspiracy. Yes, Satanist, as in devil worshippers who revel in human sacrifices. Ongoing traitors in the Drood family continually hamper Eddie and his family as they try to wipe out this new conspiracy, and their mysterious Grand Sacrifice. A lot of twists and turns along the way, includ ...

A thoroughly engaging read. I very much enjoyed the author's exploration of what it means to be a person. The hero's native language is genderless so all people are referred to with female pronouns regardless of their gender expression. While on the one hand, it makes it hard to envision some of the character, it also works to make the distinction between sexes a meaningless one for the story. That combined with the fact that the main character is a severed shard of an artificial intelligence inhabiting a human body, programmed to believe she is less than human, makes for a very interesting viewpoint (especially when people around her come to a different conclusion while she remains oblivious). The action builds nicely into a satisfying climax, but only comprises the opening act for a larger story. Now, if you'll excuse me, time to dig into the sequel.