Honestly my main reaction to reading this was relief. Finally a little bit of forward momentum on the Faceless Man/Lesley storyline. There are glaciers that move faster than the overarching story in this series (more plot, less waffle please!). To me, the apparent betrayal between two best friends - if it is a betrayal, I cling to the belief that Lesley is undercover on Nightingale's orders - is the emotional centre of the books, going forward from Broken Homes, but it hasn't been treated as such. It's still not, which I find deeply frustrating but at least there's been some minor improvement.

I also do not, do not care for the introduction of the Americans and the whole special forces thing. It put me in mind of Buffy and the excruciatingly bloody boring Initiative. On the bright side, I'm really enjoying Guleed as a character. The series was beginning to suffer from lack of a female character as anything other than a minor support, so I was glad to see her placed firmly in the foreground. Long may it go on, as she's fantastic. And I think I'm finally beginning to warm to Lady Ty - shame that I remain completely indifferent to Beverly. Don't know why, I feel that I should enjoy her more, but I just don't. Peter, on the other hand, remains hugely enjoyable - witty, self-deprecating, open to most things and willing to experiment.

Anyway, so why do I think Lesley's undercover? Wishful thinking, for the most part. But there are other things. For one, she was always the example of moral rectitude and proper police procedure between her and Peter - it was part of her character. Two, it seems she's trying to protect him. Three, the Faceless Man was kicking their arses over some books and Nightingale didn't have a clue. You can't tell me he didn't look at Lesley with her face and intelligence (she picked up spells quicker than Peter) and think, "This is someone who looks like she can be believably turned". In Nightingale's position I'd take advantage of that and I wouldn't tell Peter, who is just too open with his emotions not to be obviously worrying his arse off. But does Lesley know this? Even Bev thinks she's trying to tell him something. Then there's Operation Carthorse, which seems like a joke of a name if you ask me. Literally putting the cart before the horse in the assumption that Lesley May has gone to the dark side, confusing cause and effect (assuming she has left the force to work with the Faceless Man, instead of working with the Faceless Man so having to (appear) to leave the force). Though, as I said, mostly wishful thinking.