Normally with this series it is not necessary to read the previous books in the series (Silent Scream, Evil Games, Lost Girls and Play Dead), but this book is the exception. At the very least you need to read Evil Games in order to understand the cat and mouse game that Kim and Alex have going on. That book really set the past history that they have. That said all the books are really good reads and I think you will want to continue on after you read the first book Silent Scream.
What is the connection between a local caring upstanding social worker and a local drug addict have in common. Kim and her team are baffled as the only connection is the same precise stab wound to the heart. To make matters worse Kim is off her game with the return of Alex Thorne, who is not done with Kim yet. As the body count continues to grow, Kim cannot seem to focus on the case as Alex is forever in her mind, trying but failing Kim becomes more and more wrapped up in her "Game".
Mike Drop....Pen Drop....Book Drop..... Not sure which one applies to books, but I was extremely excited when I saw that Alex was going to be back in this book. Alex is one of my favourite antagonist in a mystery series. Alex is not only the master of manipulation but an actor who is able to become the person that you want her to be. It is very interesting that Alex is able to understand emotions but not feel them. Although Alex is not able to manipulate Kim as much as should would like in this book (face to face time is hard when you're in prison), we are still able to the resources that Alex has and her reach even when she was in prison were astounding. Her planning and forethought really point to the sociopath that she is, and well as you can probably tell I just loved having her back. Alex is not even the main issue/case in this book, Alex really acts as a diversion to Kim and really takes a toll on Kim mentally that her work is suffering. The main mystery is also interesting and I will say that the diary entries will make more sense at the end of the book.
It was nice to see that Kim has changed from the first book and has made strides since the very first book. Her growth has been slow but Marsons does allow some milestones in her personality and relationships. You can really see this with her relationship with Bryant. We also see more of her haunting past, and while we had some of the information in previous books, there was more elaboration of the events. I'm not sure if I just never noticed it in the previous books in this series, but Stacey's slang really bothered me in this book. It just seemed more pronounced and constant and well just annoying to me. It is something very minor overall in the book but I guess it was there enough that I really began to notice it.
This is one of my favourite thriller/mystery series that I read and I was so excited when Alex was back in this book. I cannot wait for Marsons to release another book in this series.
You will need to read the first book, City of Light, in order to fully grasp what is going on within this book as the whole plot and a large part of the word building is done there. Additionally, I think that it was a really good read so you should just pick the book up.
The world thought that all the déchet were massacred during the last war, but Tig has survived and her secret is now out. Although many do not trust her, they have to put their faith in her to find the missing children. When all signs lead to a pharmaceutical company called Winter Halo, Tig needs to infiltrate the company. What she finds will scar her forever and it is going to take all her special abilities and gifts in order to come out not only alive but in one piece. You never know how the second book in a series is going to go. There are some that are just as good as the first and (which happens more often) pale in comparison to the first book. I am happy to report that this book is in the first category and a really good follow up book to the first book and there were aspects in this book that I liked more. I found that this book was not only darker but more descriptive in those parts. The whole king of body farm aspect/human experimentation was completely creepy and Arthur really did not hold back here. I'm glad that Arthur introduced additional information about rifts as this was one of the aspects in the world building that I found under explained in the first book and a bit confusing; especially the major role that the rifts have had in both books. Now I have a whole new set of ideas of what is really going on and what the rifts are, what they accomplishes. I think that the rifts are some sort of magic from another dimension or planet something to that affect. They are there to really weed out the weak from the strong as well as act as portals for these other creatures that made the portal to come through, and i think that is what those creatures are trying to create for them; a perfect army to take over. No idea if my thoughts are right, complete speculation on my part, but that is the feeling/ide, just glad that i'm able to get to this point instead of just scratching my head about them. I found that the sex scenes were shorter, which I appreciated, I think this may be due to the fact that Tig was doing it more as an investigative part than reliving times with a close friend. However, there were times that I questioned whether Tig needed to follow that avenue of investigation and maybe Arthur was just using it to have sex scenes in the book but the more I thought about it, this is where Tig is supposed to excel. Not every avenue of investigation is going to get the result or outcomes that you hope it will and when I take that in to consideration I understand why Arthur had these scenes. Plus hey they were shorter, so major points in my book. Still love Tig as a main character. She uses her strengths to the best of her ability even if that does mean sex, but she is a great fighter as well and she has not wasted her time alone in learning how to fight, even if this goes against what she was created to do. I would love to have some ghosts of my own to help me out, I think this is one of the more interesting aspects in this series. I just love Cat and Bear and their ability to help out Tig and I think that with some of the events that happened in this book things can only get more interesting. This book lived up to the first one and while I still have questions, Arthur was able to keep me on the edge of my seat and of course wanting more. I am very interested and excited to see how this trilogy is going to play out.
