Nice solid entry in the Violet Darger franchise, damn-near perfect. In fact I actually DID give it 5-stars at first, but deducted one when I thought on it some more prior to this review. There were just too many moments where the story felt needlessly drawn out thanks to descriptions being a bit on the repetitive side. There's only so many ways to describe Violet's gut and the amount of discomfort she feels in it during any stressful circumstance. There's only so many ways to say the same thing. While this certainly didn't worsen my experience reading the book, it still played its role in making it feel somewhat cumbersome to get through, and sometimes even difficult to visualize. Sometimes less is more when it comes to the description department.
Other than that, this is still one nail-biter of a story. Stressed me way the heck out in a lot of areas, given its plot, since it involves bombs, and whether or not they go BOOM. This go around, Darger and Loshak have been summoned to help thwart the efforts of a man who's setting up said bombs to go off in at certain periods of time. This forces Darger and company to race against the clock, literally, to find the places where bombs are being using the riddle-heavy clues being left by the villain. This story was so reminiscent of movies like The Bone Collector, Se7en, and the Saw franchise, at least the best and most thrilling parts from them. I had fun trying to guess the clues left behind, though I absolutely totally sucked in figuring them all out.
As per usual, this thing is so wonderfully written, despite it being a bit too busy in the description department (like I mentioned earlier). I can't praise the character developments and interactions enough. Even the new ones have their impact, some to the point of making me cry and I only JUST met them. But what I really loved this go around (and trust me, this feels sooooo weird to say), it's the damn villain of it all. It's a different story when the one the cops are hunting for is smarter than they are and doesn't do typical villain things. He's not only smarter, but even harboring a bit of wisdom in why he's doing the things he's doing. There were several instances where I'd read the villain's take in this story (told by the various clues he leaves for the cops) where I caught myself agreeing with the guy. Obvious I don't agree with his METHODS, but the thought-process leading up to those methods was just annoyingly though-provoking. I mean, the dude has a point. And I LOVED that about this story.
The only other thing I didn't care for was the way it ended, not when it came to the case itself, but when it came to Darger's personal life. It was all....awkwardly placed and didn't feel like it belonged in this story, at least not in the way it was presented. Still, I sure do hope it can rectify itself in the upcoming entry because I'm still very, VERY much a fan of the Violet Darger books and I feel like I'm always gonna want more.