The first couple of pages of this story did a wonderful job catching the reader up to speed to the story. This quick summary would be effective for both people that have read the other short stories and books in the series as well as new readers entering this world for the first time.

In this story, their money has run out and so Ocken has found himself and Riley (who is now 18) a job. But of course, this isn’t a simple job... They are hired to steal a dagger from the second most feared man in their region; Edward Zimmerman aka Fast Eddy. Per usual, the two get themself into quite the tricky situation.

The stress that this heist caused me... phew! I could hardly breathe during the event! The action was perfectly written, per usual. I love how intense it is! For example: “The first two guards regained their composure and came at him again, but Ocken used the impaled man as a weapon, swinging his swordstaff and catapulting the body into his comrades. They fell down beneath the body’s weight. Ocken quickly descended on them, and thrust his weapon through the heart of one man and cut down the second as he started to rise.”

Ah and the ending! I need to know more!!

Favorite passages:
“What were you expecting?” Riley shot. “How did you think I would respond the first time a man groped me?”
“You didn’t have to break the poor man’s arm,” he said.
“He’s lucky that’s all I broke,” she said with a huff.

The moon shone brightly that night without a single cloud to mar the skies. In the distance, a bell from a buoy gently rang in time with the lapping of the waves.

This was what had been missing from their life. This was what Ocken had fought so hard to avoid in trying to keep Riley safe. Yet it was this cutting down of the wicked and the bringing back of a little light into the world that they needed most.