Silvers continues his production line without a hitch, steamrolling another exceptional installment of his works out to readers and sculpting another segment of his universe into place with the usual myriad of small hints and subtle touches, adding more layers of mystique to the overall structure of the world's larger story beyond the scope of how even the characters themselves yet can see. The quality of writing continues to hold steady and while not as dramatic as some of his twists and turns in prior works, instead he baits the lead and leaves the reader to come shuffling along as he tugs at the reel little by little through the story.
A bit wrung out and confused, a bit wiser, and more than a little pissed off, protagonist Callie Penrose is challenged in her second literary outing in both the literal and metaphysical sense, facing dangers from without and within at the same time. Set between her first novel and the latest Nate Temple novel Wide Side, she is still uncertain as to many of the issues her encounter with Nate Temple drew to light, especially in regards to the elements that seem to be shared by the two of them and how much there is still unknown between them, in regards to what she knows of him and what she even knows of herself. We don't get too much insight beyond a few fleeting mentions here and there, but it is obvious that her path and Nate's are set to cross more than a few times in the future just yet beyond her appearance in Wild Side.
The pace of the novel executes quickly, but the contents are drawn out and develop slowly through the scope of Callie's perspective, much of the novel pertaining to her own introspection as she tackles hurdle after hurdle thrown her way. There is as mentioned anger, a slow boil that peaks at the novel's climax, but wrapped in hesitation, confusion, self-doubt and strained trust that rises and falls as she processes the things and people she encounters. Despite the supernatural happenings, the novel feels very much focused on Callie's sense of self in all too mundane and human ways.
That said the supernatural elements themselves are as prominent as ever, and Callie doesn't let her introspection get in the way of a fight. Encountering yet more elements of the supernatural world beyond what she knew, she encounters faces new to her and readers alike, some new to her but familiar to readers, and fresh perspective on some she'd already encountered before. It works as a slower, more subtle build to her place of importance within the plot and the local topography as it changes due to the events of the previous novel and events within Nate Temple's storyline. Even outside her direct spheres of influence, as the mundane human world is becoming more aware of the things that lurk in the dark and rally in fear and anger alike to denounce it. While not as overt as say, a war on a legion of Greek legends patroned by a Greek goddess, it sets a suitable scene and sense of tension for Callie and her friends.
The journey of self identity is steeped in the magical as much as pure introspection, as Callie is learning to embrace and expand the new, foreign powers within herself and how it fits in place with the image she already has of who she is and where she belongs in the scheme of things. It never reaches the point of internal or external crisis, instead putting a spotlight on the people close to her or those new to her who make dramatic impressions on her in the course of the novel, almost as mirrors revealing new facets to herself. She is not drastically altered by what she finds or the decisions she makes, instead standing as a resolute protagonist who rather is naturally growing into more of herself. In a genre where deus ex machina drop from the sky regularly and twists and turns can be graphed out ahead of time for most stories, it is refreshing to see a more organic take on the way a character develops themselves.
The climax itself is rather quick, but executed well and shows snapshots of Callie's potential as well as dropping more hints as to what might be behind many of the unanswered questions about herself. Rather than rolling right into her actions in Wild Side, it takes the time afterwards to have Callie get her house in order and lets her leave off on her own note rather than hopping right back onto the flow of Nate Temple's storyline. One of the concerns I'd had at some of her initial interactions with Nate was that their connection would become too tangible too quickly and result in too much of an overlap with one another in their series, but thus far Silvers has been of no mind to rush, letting their smaller encounters speak as much if not more so than their larger, longer engagements together and building things bit by bit for a rock solid foundation.