OMG! OH MY GOD! Great cliff hanger.

Double Cross takes place a couple of months after the first book in the trilogy, Mind Games. Justine Jones is still posing as a nurse so that she can "zing" people with her fear. She's dating Otto, who after the way the first book ended is working with Packard, even though they hated each other. The catch is Otto is holding too many people in his force fields and needs to let some free. So he tells Packard which people to try and work with. Whether they are ready to be released now after being imprisoned, or is they need to be dissillusioned.

Justine is working a case with a girl, Ez, who is in a high risk prison field that Otto made. This field won't let people in or out, unless they have the descrambler bracelet that the disillusionists have. Ez is a highcap, and her power is to be able to control people and their dreams. First she gets her hooks into them with their dreams, then it leads to sleep walking. Justine continues to have issues with zinging people, she constantly feels that it is wrong. So she is having difficulty zinging Ez when she thinks that she is innocent. Even after she manages to get her hooks into both Justine and Packard, and linking the twos dreams together.

So the whole time Justine is thinking that Packard is a evil conniving bastard. He tricked her so many times in the first book, so she thinks very little of him. She thinks the world of Otto, they are both hypochondriacs, they both believe in right and wrong. But part of the way through the book, Justine realizes that Packard was being a cold bastard at times to get the job done, because he knew that her morals were very high and by putting her life at risk was the only way to get her to do things. You really notice that when he tells her he will cut her off if she doesn't zing Ez, and then she watches him from her window while he sits in his car for 10 mins afterwards and then leaves.

With Justine and Packard being linked dream wise, this stirs up the threes plot. Otto and Packard had a huge falling out (obviously since they hate each other, and hate being a small word to describe it) and after that day they made a pact to never discuss it ever again. Justine doesn't tell Otto about the dream linking because she doesn't want to upset him, or have him think any less of her because of her screw up. This causes issues with Otto and Justine, especially when she starts talking during a linked dream session, saying names and things that were only part of the pact. Otto thought Packard betrayed the pact, untill Justine says no sorry, I never told you that our dreams are connected, and that I kept that tid-bit from you. Otto has an issue with being kept in the dark about things so he sort of flips out.

He leaves, and Justine goes days without talking to him. This is where things change between her and Packard. He cares enough about her, that he chooses to help her save Otto so that she can regain her relationship. They realize that Otto is kidnapped by the "Dorks", a group of humans who have been going around killing highcaps. By the way, highcap is short for high capacity. Since Otto is a highcap, they realize that they really need to find him. With him being the mayor, who knows what kind of fall out.

On top of this, there are glasses making their way around the city that make people immune to highcaps, and able to see and detect them as well. So that is the current crime spree. The first book it was telekinetics causing havoc and now it's humans murdering highcaps. This is the other case that Justine is working on.

The whole time, Justine is trying to get her freedom, and wants her comfort zone. That being not needing to zing people and with Otto, because he's safe. I personally didn't like Otto in the first book. He was the great nemesis, and any person who can hold people prisoner with their mind in buildings and never checks on them just seems like an asshole. And the ultimate spoiler here is HE IS AN ASSHOLE. With learning things from her dream link, Justine realizes that she cares very deeply for Packard, and he's actually a good person.

In the end of the book, she realizes that she loves Packard and plans to run away with him. Of course this wouldn't be a trilogy if they actually got to do that in the second book now would they. She ends up going to Otto to take care of something, and to say goodbye. When he realizes that she leaves him, he kills a man, and gets Sophia (who brainwashes people as her highcap power) to erase Justine's memory of the day. The day that she makes love with Packard after they both say I love yous. But Sophia takes that away and makes Justine think that Packard actually shot the man.

This interests me because that is one thing during the whole book that Justine felt very strongly about. She hates the idea of people losing time in their life, and having memories wiped away. Every time it occurred in the book, she always was upset about it. So I think it's safe to say that that last book in the series is going to be phenomenal. Obviously the HEA, if there is going to be one, is going to be with Packard. That makes me happy. Otto is an asshole, and he did something to Justine that she despises. When she learns that, OH IT'S GONNA BE GOOOOOOD!

Again, this series is really amazing. It's so different from a lot of other things I've read. This is a series I wouldn't mind reading again.




( )

Double Cross
3 Stars

A fully fledged disillusionist who uses her health neurosis to force criminals to see the error of their ways, Justine Jones faces an ethical dilemma when she begins to question both the efficacy and the effects of her actions. Equally problematic is the fact that she is torn between two men - Sterling Packard, the enigmatic leader of the disillusionists whose past misdeeds haunt him still, and Otto Sanchez, the powerful mayor of Midcity, whose philosophy of the “ends justify the means” may have disastrous consequences for Justine and those she cares for…

A good sequel despite some problematic elements.

The basic plot revolves around the investigation into a team of serial killers known as the Dorks, who are targeting High-caps. Nevertheless, this storyline takes a back seat to the developments in Justine’s relationships with Otto and Packard.

Otto and Justine's romance is definitely the worst aspect of the book. Not only is he a whiny douchebag, but his smarminess makes me decidedly itchy and uncomfortable. Moreover, the images of he and Justine together are shudder inducing even before the revelation that he is a murdering scumbag! The idea of Justine marrying him and having sex with him again is giving me the heebie jeebies!

In contrast, Justine and Packard are amazing together and the shared dreams trope, which is a favorite of mine, only increases the intimacy of the incredible sexual tension and chemistry between them. Unfortunately, Justine is annoyingly obtuse when it comes to realizing Packard’s feelings for her. Yes, he is manipulative, but that doesn’t negate the fact that he is smitten and she is in denial both about her own emotions and his.

Now for the biggest issue with the book - the ending. Not only are there several shocking revelations and disturbing events, but the story ends with a cliffhanger that leaves the reader hanging. It is a good thing that the final installment is already available so that no waiting is necessary to find out what happens next. ( )

The Good: Carolyn Crane has continued the Disillusionists series with same uniqueness that set it apart from the sea of sameness that has overtaken urban fantasy. The Dorks are killing Highcaps and Justine gets caught up in the search for them. Everything about this is cool. From naming criminals disparaging names in an effort to keep them from "celebrity" status to how Highcaps are being spotted to how the entire investigation goes down. So much transpires in this novel. So many questions, so many reveals. You don't know who to trust from start to finish.

The Bad: Justine remains a difficult character to read. Even with her ability to pass the hypochondria on to others and relieve her own suffering, she's still a basket case most of the time. This girl cannot handle a love triangle. She can barely handle living. She's willfully blind to everything going on around her, just because she's certain one man is evil incarnate while the other is god. Because the dude who she thinks is god said so. Her issues make her an interesting character, but her inability to think like a rational human being at any point, regardless of whether or not she's dealing with her illness, completely dumbfounds me. ( )

I HATE OTTO!!!!!!
That about sums up the ending for me. I was soooo happy near the end, but no. Go ahead and crush my happiness and dreams right now. WHYYY??? So help me if the third book doesn't have a happy ending I'm going to go apeshit on anyone or anything around me. I didn't even want to read those last like 6 or so pages after what officer asshole did. The second book seemed a little boring throughout the story. There were some good parts but it didn't really get interesting until like the last 50 or so pages. And the ending... Just no. This book made me a little crazy too. One minute I'm all team Otto, but then like 10 seconds later I'm in love with Packard. I give this book a four. If it wasn't for the last 10% of the book, this would have gotten like a two. Well played Ms. Crane. I look forward to reading the final book and hopefully it ends better then this one did. ( )

The middle book in The Disillusionists series is a whirlwind intense sequel full of misdirection and intrigue. The last hour of the book will turn everything when know as a reader about the series totally upside down. There are a number of revelations about Packard and Otto's past and the haunting pact that they share. All in all I loved this books and the story-line just keeps getting better and better. ( )