The Last Book of Baghdad update - "It's when desperation is mistaken for evil that evil becomes most desperate"

After 17 months of work, I'm about 10-15 pages from finishing the first draft. One thing I've learned from this story is pacing. Falcons on the Floor moves pretty slow in comparison to its spin-off; there's way more action and the tension is non-stop from basically page one. I also pulled away from the violence in Falcons. The new novel doesn't. The violence is a key driver for the two intermingling plots. 
What surprises me the most is how a minor...