This series has gone downhill so damn quickly... I gave the first volume four stars, if I recall correctly. The second volume got three stars and here we are on book number three and two stars is all I can offer. The worst parts of the last book have been doubled down on and given I'm only halfway through the series the trend seems clear. It's gore and violence above plot and common sense.

Still, you know, this is a thriller about a serial killer. I expect gore and violence. If I didn't like gore and violence in this context I would be reading something else. It's just I can't get over how much I hate Archie Sheridan. You have a serial killer, Archie. You and your merry band of incompetents have been following her for years now, as she tortures and butchers literally hundreds of people. You have many, many chances to kill her - three in this book alone. And every time you blow it, because you don't want to be a killer. Well boo-fucking-hoo. At this point you're complicit with everything she does, every person she hurts, because you have continuous chances to stop it and never do. I simply cannot stand you, and the relationship you have with Gretchen Lowell has stopped being entertainingly creepy and started being flat out pathetic.

Debbie was right to leave your arse. Henry would be right to dump you in an unmarked grave himself; all you do is get in his way. At least he's trying, you feckless piece of shit.