Joel Padgett

wanted to enjoy this more. A little political intrigue;a little queerness and wrapped into a bow of Vietnamese heritage. But the rhythm of the writing was off for me. So much that I only made it halfway through before giving up.

I gave this one 4 stars ultimately but it was not an easy decision. The central character was intriguing and the last third of the book was more to my liking. Yet, the first 2/3rds left me wishing for more expediency or less chapters. They were all well written but could have achieved a similar outcome with maybe half the content.

really liked the first 2/3rds of this one, but mildly hated the last 1/3rd.

solid writing but the killer never really earned their reveal.

overall I enjoyed the book, but the rhythm of the dialogue was stilted (probably due to translating to English). The perpetrator was easy to suss out too.