Mojo Shivers > Recent Status Updates

The thing I like best about the Stevens & Windermere books is that each case is different, is handled differently. There’s no set procedure of how it gets resolved. In the last book it was human trafficking and was written as a chase to find the missing sister. This case is about suicide sites and plays more like a game of hide and seek. It’s much like Reacher that way, where each book uses a new playbook.

I am aghast at how easy fooling folks comes to Locke. It’s like he learned how to lie as his first words and after he learned how to use those words to steal folks blind.

Yup, just reached the, “You tell ‘em I’m coming! And Hell’s coming with me!” moment.

Locke Lamora is just one of those characters you feel like you should hate with his cocky attitude and flashy theatrics, but his charisma just comes off the page in waves. Also, the way he’s loyal to and watches out for his improvised family speaks more to the content of his character than all that other bullshit.

I have to admire Locke’s audacity. He’s brazen enough to play both arsonist and fireman in his cons in that he’ll play an aristocrat out to swindle a mark and turn right around to pretend to be the law on the trail of this no-good thief. He’ll say to play along so they can catch the thief in the act. In the end, Locke has the mark willingly offer more riches because he thinks he’s on the side of angels.

It’s like I can hear the Ocean’s 11 soundtrack when I read this. It’s dense with sticky situations and then flashbacks showing how the Gentleman Bastards already made arrrangements to handle or circumvent these obstacles—just like Ocean’s 11 and Blades in the Dark.

I’m glad I took a chance on this book. I’m of the opinion that small town murders are infinitely more nuanced and interesting than their city brethren. And this one has got it all—incest, baby-selling, and class warfare—all told through the lens of a reverend/former Army chopper pilot and a police chief/former MP. I’m eagerly awaiting to see how this all plays out.