This is a pretty solid story that kept me engaged and turning pages. The prose itself is crisp. The characters and locations are well-drawn. The overall plot and twists hold together and provide some surprises.

But I have removed a couple of stars for several distractions. First is the general feeling that the story is overstuffed. Too many cool ideas kept competing for attention. It often felt like important things, like dogs and kids and jobs, got forgotten for long stretches. Then there's the implausibility of the main baddy's ability to singlehandedly keep track of and hunt down everyone he kills without getting caught. After a while, I just gave in to it. But nobody is that good.

This is skippable, unless you're a big fan of the author and a completist. Like me. ( )

This is a fast paced and fun read with delightful twists. However, it's too complex and has many useless parts and detours in it. Therefore, it could be shorter, more fully packed and be just as good / fun to read. The bad guy is dispatched too easily and some more fight by him would have been fun to read. We knew who the bad guy was, but his goons were too simple. Still, I enjoyed the read. ( )