This is the second Cal Leandros book in a row to make me choke up by the end, and that is an uncommon feat. The same technical flaws that are present in the rest of the series resurface: Too much narrative repetition, overemphasis, exposition, and meandering. It could do with some serious editing for precision, as always, but it's gotten no worse, which is saying something considering how quality tends to deteriorate the longer a series goes on. However, everything that has made this series shine before is present in force to make this, in my opinion, the best installment of the Cal Leandros series yet.

Cal loses his life memory (though none of his objective knowledge and learned skills, as fictional amnesia usually goes) and gets a taste of freedom - freedom from his past, freedom from his inhumanity and dark impulses - but also loses his greatest asset in the bargain: Niko. Don't worry, this isn't the kind of amnesia story where the subject spends most of the story innocently bonding with the locals before his complex and murky history catches up to him. His brother and friends find him very quickly, and then the story becomes a question of not if Cal will ever be himself again, but if anyone, especially Cal himself, should want him to.

Story-wise, it's funny as hell, maybe even funnier than usual. I haven't laughed so hard or often in awhile. The monsters were spooky and original, the fight scenes brutal, the plot very convenient, but fortunately not predictable, and the rare bits of sex, romance and sentimentality refreshingly subtle, rather than taking over most of the plot.

Character-wise...Cal is an absolute treat as we see a new angle to him - as well-adjusted as he could ever be. This is a Cal who laughs freely, who gets piss-drunk and sings at the top of his lungs, who kills when he has to but never enjoys it, who wonders why he doesn't have any fun hobbies or a girlfriend. He's very much still Cal, stabbing anything he doesn't like with forks, endlessly snarking on the inherent absurdities of his life, but he is, for the first time, mostly at peace with himself. And it's heartbreaking that that peace cannot last.

Niko in this book is especially intriguing, knocked completely off his game, trying to cope by hiding vulnerability and upset under a thin veneer of Christ-like patience - we've seen him lose his Zen before thanks to Cal, but there's something different about this time. Niko has spent a lot of effort saving Cal from himself, and now Cal has to return the favor. We see a lot more of Niko's flaws and blind spots than usual here, and it makes him more personable, more real.

The brothers have to bond all over again and reexamine the parameters of their intense relationship, which is always entertaining and, for me, the crux of what makes these books so moving. These are two people who clash on so many levels yet are loyal to each other without exception, without reservation, and the series has gone to great lengths to explain why, instead of making the mistake of pretending this level of devotion could ever been newborn or automatic. "Bromance", indeed.

As for other characters: Robin is a riot as usual, newly lost to the trauma of monogamy with Ishiah and being a well-dressed brat about it every step of the way. Promise is still mourning the loss of her daughter, which I was pleased to see because that is not something a character should get over in one book, two books, or ever. And Delilah fits her new role as full-fledged villain with the same sexy intrigue as she did dubious ally.

It seems like this is a story evolving on a book-by-book basis, as the characters aren't ever trapped within their predictable patterns. They're forced to confront their flaws, their demons, and their losses, new and old, at every turn. They're not allowed to get comfortable, and that makes for great surprises and growth.

I borrowed my current copy of this book from a friend; with many books, one read would be enough for me. But I'm going to buy my own very soon to add to my collection. This novel, like all its predecessors, will be worth reading over and over again.