My first Burke book left me a little surprised -- I think I've gotten too used to the predictable shocks of the Connelly series, so the overwhelming, graphic depiction of violence and depravity again and again and again was a hard rhythm to get into. Still, I liked this book, the way the characters were created as complex, constantly living in the borderlands of bad behavior, always ready with a quip or a shotgun. It was a much more active mystery/crime book than I'm used to, but that was a nice change. I'll read more.