I love Terrier, the first book in this series, but this book always felt a little flatter to me. The crime (counterfeiting money) is a lot less interesting than the serial killers and kidnapping of the first book. The investigation of the crime just drags a bit. It should be more exciting than it is in this high fantasy world with magic, but it feels overlong and tiresome by the end. I got to the point where I was just waiting for it to be over.

We also leave the original setting of Corus, Beka's hometown with all her friends and family. I liked the beginning of this book quite a bit, but after Beka leaves, I found myself losing interest. It's not just the familiar setting, but all the familiar characters. Her roommates and the other guardsman. Even her cat doesn't stick around. The only regular character who stays is Goodwin and it does feel a little lacking to me.

But I still did like it quite a bit. I actually enjoyed the audiobook reread more than I liked my original read of the book. Something about the audiobook made it drag a little less and I wasn't nearly as bored. I think it's definitely the way to go if you find this book a little more dry than the previous one.