Eli has been living in exile in Canada since the events of book one. When he finds out it's safe to return, he flies back to the States. However, a chance encounter on a train lands him in the middle of a turf war between rival New York gangs, and the body count is set to rise once more.
He's still haunted by five smart-ass ghosts of some of his previous victims, but are they just his mind playing tricks on him, or is something more sinister happening?
Baxter doesn't give a clear answer to that question still, although events take more of a supernatural twist than in book one. Carver is great at rationalising all the events surrounding him.
That quote on the front does sum the book up in three words. It is indeed brutal, with a death toll in double figures in a short novella. It is indeed gritty. The depiction of the criminal underworld feels deliciously seedy. And it is indeed fun.
Baxter writes in uncluttered, easily readable prose that rockets you through his books. This series might arguably be low on originality, but the high octane action and sheer breakneck pace of the storytelling makes that really quite insignificant. It's what you do with the familiar elements that counts, and Baxter delivers in spades.
This is a great series so far, and I will be reading the final part reasonably soon. It will make for another very enjoyable cheat read to get my numbers up for the year- with all the satisfaction of a book three times its length.
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