I enjoyed this one quite a bit - the story was interesting and multi-layered. Jill is asked by a cop and personal friend to look into something that at first doesn't seem to be her kind of thing. As a favor, she digs into it, as in the same day seems other nightmares come into play.I think the story works well because the mystery is more complex, richer, and tied into all sorts of villains and things. It was interesting to see a returning villain having something to do with it - there was a neat twist there. It digs a little deeper into the Sorrows, which sound mighty nasty. Besides that you run into corrupt police officers, conspiracies, and even someone trying to kill Jill herself.Jill isn't my favorite character. I understand she has to be tough and brutal in her profession, but some of her actions are a little arrogant. I get that she's tough because of her hellbreed mark, but the author goes overboard with having her almost die in this book - seriously, at least three times.There is very little Saul since he's away visiting his sick mother, and Perry is hardly in the book either since party of their relationship changing last book. I like Saul's weres that are left behind to back her up, and the were angle was interesting. There's plenty of violence, bloody gore, killing, action scenes, and tight knit pacing. I don't care for Saintcrow's dialogue or language but she writes well and I enjoy her stuff. As far as the mystery tales go, this has the best one so far. Ok Jill...I'm done. I kept thinking you were going to get more interesting, that these books were going to be about more than gratuitous violence..and "I'm so tough I don't need to eat or sleep or be nice to anyone ever...blah blah blah..."I really thought these books were going to have some kind of story Arc. But it seems like all of the interesting things that could develop the Character happen OFF STAGE. Like her whole relationship with Saul. The fact that they got married is casually dropped in one sentence. Um...OK.And Perry....SOOOO much potential there. What motivates him, who is he really, what's his endgame. But instead Perry didn't even feature in this book. Perry's bad, so it's OK for Jill to use, manipulate, and generally mistreat him...um...who's the bad guy here?Jill is one of the LEAST sympathetic characters I have ever met in fiction. Yes, as a former whore, she had a rough life. But it didn't make her at all sympathetic to the prostitutes that were getting killed in the previous book. I could deal with that, if I felt like her character were going SOMEWHERE. But it's not. Every book is just more of the same. Jill acting all badass and constant violence and seeing the entire world in black and white.
What do You think about Redemption Alley (2009)?
Non-stop action, and she doesn't whine like she does in the 1st book :-)
—mhackat1
