Colomba and Dante are back. Of course, they are. The way the first novel ended left absolutely no ambiguity about this. In fact as much as I don't care for series, I was anticipating this one and was very excited when it finally appeared on Netgalley. Mainly because Dante is just such a terrific character. Which is, frankly, why I sort of take umbrage to this being billed as a Colomba Cassselli #2 novel. She is so not the star attraction, even if she's set up as such, Dante doesn't even make an appearance until tenth of the way into the story. Thing is, though, Colomba Casselli is a fairly average (and actually kind of annoying at times in this book) tough lady cop and without Dante all this would be is an above average police procedural. Dante is all the ingenuity, flash and pizazz of the show. Together they make a great team, though it's now somewhat soured with the apparently inevitable sexual attraction, because apparently straight men and women simply cannot have a working relationship without that being a factor. Anyway...aside from all that, this is a sequel. One of those sequels you really shouldn't read without checking out the first book. And as a sequel it just isn't quite as good as its predecessor. The novelty factor is gone, the freshness level isn't the same, the striking originality is no longer quite so striking...the first book had plenty of it all, but then again that's how it works with series, isn't it...#1 draws you in, gets you hooked and then you follow along. So maybe the comparison isn't fair, because Kill The Father was awesome and not quite as good as awesome is still pretty great. Dazieri really knows how to engage a reader, the intricacy and cleverness of his plots, the way he mixes in facts and fiction and, above all, his absolutely terrific, singular, memorable characters (on either side of the moral spectrum)...it's all really top shelf quality. I loved that the author continues with secret psychological experiments theme from the first book, it's such a fascinating subject and lends itself to such wild speculations, perfect for this sort of a story. The pacing is so dynamic, it's tough to put down. Turned out to be a one day read despite its size and well worth the time. This really is exactly what smart dark psychological mystery thrillers are meant to be like and Dazieri isn't done either, in fact the ending of this one positively makes the first book look like a stand alone. Who will they kill next is the question. Enormously exciting, extremely entertaining, enthusiastically recommended. Thanks Netgalley.