Another engaging story from a very talented writer.  A very interesting world where humans are restricted to land since the world's waters have heinously huge predatory creatures called Leviathans which, on occasion, breach the seawalls and rampage well inland laying waste to whole towns. Their entire society revolves around this occasional event. Their infrastructure is, essentially, a series of walls designed to deter the beasts and weaponry to destroy one should it not be stopped at the wall.  Their society's superstars are the Engineers who manage the walls and deploy the big guns.  In addition, certain people - either due to their family's status or the job they do - have particular physical enhancements that come from the Leviathans.

This is the second story with the characters Dinios Kol and his Investigator Ana Dolabra.  Ana is enhanced and her abilities allow her to observe minutia and make connections that usually elude others.  Kol is her eyes.  Ana's abilities have side effects in that she can't leave her eyes uncovered as the amount of detail that she can observe randomly can leave her incapacitated.  She is uniquely suited to her role as an investigator. 

At the outer reaches of their Empire, lays a small kingdom, Yarrow.  The Kingdom of Yarrow and the Empire have an agreement whereby the Empire sends enhanced individuals to the sea town to harvest leviathans; in a way that couldn't be done within the Empire due, funny enough, to safety regulations.  The Empire dangles 'federal aid' with the stated intention of someday bringing the Kingdom into the Empire.  As Kol and Ana discover, neither really wish this result.  Both benefit from this 'under the table' arrangement which endangers everyone; but, of course, those in power are only concerned with remaining in power.

Ana and Kol are called in because an Empire officer who was there with a delegation discussing the possible merger, disappeared from a locked room.  With such a simple description, one that has been done to death in typical mysteries, they are catapulted into an incredibly complex scenario; one that appears to stymie even Ana.  The plot careens between the political machinations to the secret experiments done on an island in the Kingdom's harbor to old vendettas being settled.  Aside from Kol and Ana - eventually only a single person knows exactly what is happening and why; and this person is the one responsible for every heinous event and multiple murders.  But as their investigation progresses, they discover clues from the most unlikely sources; clues that initially confound them rather than answering questions. It soon appears that Ana's conclusions have to be impossible; even she cannot answer how that can be - but her conclusions tend to be the truth.  The biggest problem that Ana and Kol can see is that the killer won't be done until, possibly, the entire Kingdom is destroyed.  An event that will also have ramifications in the Empire threatening their very infrastructure and thousands of lives.  Ana and Kol find themselves up against an individual who seems to have countless enhancements and is quite capable of impossible feats.  Such a person should not be possible; yet here they are.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a more unlikable protagonist than Ana Dolabra.  She is unattractive and has repulsive habits; both of which are the result of her enhancements.  Even Kol is baffled as to exactly what sort of enhancements she has; something that she is very secretive about.  And yet we, the readers, can tell that he not only respects her immensely but he is becoming more and more protective of her.  She may treat Kol as a child and chide him for his habits but we can see that she is also beginning to respect him and become protective of him.  Ana is completely aware that Kol, as a young man with ambitions, desires to be more than an appendage to this weird investigator all but banished to the most obscure cases available.  Without being privy to her inner thoughts, it is obvious that she hopes to find a way to inspire him to realize the importance of these obscure investigations. Their investigations, literally, protect the Empire and all its citizens.  It's just hard for Kol to see that.  So the story also follows this personal interaction thread which helps keep it grounded.

There isn't much new world-building; the author is relying heavily on the plot.  The plot is wonderful; it twists and turns like a plate of spaghetti while never leaving logic and reason behind.  While the story is told from the point-of-view of Kol, we can draw our own conclusions from Ana's actions as to what motivates her.  I'm here for the plot but I also like the characters immensely.

This author is not only a talented storyteller but a master of plotting.  He is my new favorite to watch.  ~~  Catherine Book

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