This book is definitely not for the squeamish. The prologue revolves around the skinning of a man and part of the narrative details a genocide back in the old country. The city of Quinsigamond is again the star of the show with only small plot elements tying this one to the previous in the series. This time around we follow independent cab driver and former police officer Gilrein as he tries to uncover the reason why he's just been beaten up by a couple of hoodlums thinking that he had a package that belonged to their boss. As with all the books in this series there is so much more going on than just the basic plot and whatever I write here couldn't do justice to the underlying elements of this story.

Not many authors could pull off a book like this and still leave you wanting more from this cess-pit of all the evils of mankind that is Quinsigamond. ( )

The short (untitled or un-numbered) preceding chapter 1, nearly forced me to throw the book away. Some puritan sensibilities rose from somewhere buried and nearly had me miss this magnifically written work of art. The twists, turns, ins and outs, keep you cataloguing characters so that no one, on their return to stage, is a stranger. Get a copy -- you won't be disappointed. ( )