The Naming of the Beasts

I liked this one but not quite as much as the predecessor, Thicker than Water.

Instead of having a new, original mystery to solve, Naming of the Beasts finally finishes up the Rafi storyline.

Things I loved:

Castor's narration and at times inappropriate sense of humorCastor never gets unrealistically powerful and is always in over his head

Castor's problem solving and quick thinkingThe heist scene at the MOU was incredible fun

The fabulous Rosie Crucis Wishlist of things that could have been better:Something about the final confrontation with Asmodeus felt anticlimactic. Yes, it was a tough battle but Asmodeus seemed more childish than menacing.

I wish we had seen the history of Castor/Jenna James rather than having her be a villain mostly by reputation. We hate her because Castor told us to, rather than being shown a little backstory anecdote to prove his point.Juliet's inner struggles would have been more meaningful without the external cause.

*The larger issue of where all the extra ghost/demon energy came from and how Castor's role is central to it never got resolved.

I'm happy to see a new book in the series has just come out. Maybe it will wrap up some of the unfinished business.