Shattered by their devastating breakup, Detective Levi Abrams and PI Dominic Russo find themselves at war right when they need each other most. While Dominic is trapped in a vicious cycle of addiction, Levi despairs of ever catching the Seven of Spades. The ruthless vigilante’s body count continues to climb, and it’s all Levi can do to keep up with the carnage.
When Levi’s and Dominic’s paths keep crossing in the investigation of a kidnapping ring with a taste for mutilation, it feels like history repeating itself. Thrown together by fate once again, they reluctantly join forces in their hunt for the mastermind behind the abductions.
But the Seven of Spades hates sharing the spotlight, and they have an ace in the hole: a new batch of victims with a special connection to Levi. Their murders send shockwaves through Las Vegas and change the rules of the game forever.
The Seven of Spades has upped the ante. If Levi and Dominic don’t play their cards right, they’ll end up losing everything.
Comment: This is the fourth installment in the Seven of Spades series, featuring police detective Levi and PI Dominic as they try to find a way to uncover the identity of the serial killer Seven of Spades, and stop him, even though his targets have always been people who have not been innocent.
In this story, following closely the events of the previous one, Levi and Dominic are now separated because Levi found out about Dominic's relapse into gambling. While they deal with this situation, they still can't quite give up on each other and hook up sometimes. They know this isn't healthy but they are still in love and still hope things change. At the same time, the Seven of Spades is escalating on his actions and is now starting to target people connected with Levi's past. The killer's obsession with Levi is also making others around him nervous. What can anyone do, however, if the killer is so clever and resourceful?
I was not very happy with what happened between the protagonists in the previous book. I get it that the author wanted to highlight the need for the guys to communicate, to want to be together and that means Levi has to let go of his anger, and Dominic has to accept he relapsed and needs to ask for help, but these things are much easier said than done. I do get this, but at the same time part of me wished that these two would already be at a point where their self awareness and intelligence would stop them from making bad choices. Oh well..
In this novel, of course things get to such a level that something certainly had to be done. I think the author did a good enough job showing this in a way that I can believe the guys did process things and wanted to do this for the right reasons (their self respect, the respect of those around them) and not because the serial killer forced their hand with the kind of acts he commits. In fact, this story reveals that not only the serial killer isn't the unassuming self appointed vigilante, only doing bad things because he feels no authority is doing enough, but he is actually a person with an agenda and while it seems obvious he is obsessed with Levi, it's still not easy to guess why.
I mean, this killer has targeted people he considers need punishment and that has, in the first books, felt almost like karma, like that vigilante who can do things that legally others cannot. I think it was quite clever of the author to develop this character slowly, so at first he was just a person doing bad deeds for good reasons, but now he is escalating and it's no longer the excusable person he seemed to be in the first books. He has also shown a soft spot for Levi and that must mean there's a connection somewhere, somehow. In this book, I started to create this theory... well, there's only one book to go and I bet we will learn the truth then, so...
What strikes me as more negative in the story line if this book - and a little as it happened in the one before already - is how, in the attempt to portray the increase of madness of the serial killer, his actions, and kills and plans seem to escalate too, making the killer almost... cartoonist? Over the top? I just didn't like how we have to accept this person can this easily accomplish the things he does and the more we read, the more elaborated and dramatic and (slightly) ridiculously flamboyant they get, which means I become less impressed. I think some things are just to be eye catching by now.
Of course, this makes for an adrenaline reading, always anticipating the next kill or the next drama or something. Along with this, we still have the main couple debating their issues, trying to find common ground and trying to investigate the case which propelled the whole thing. I feel there was way too much going on and yes, the author is certainly competent and clever in her planning, but I wasn't always happy with what the characters were doing. I suppose I'd have liked them to be more decisive and focused in doing what they had to to battle their demons. I know, I know, this is part of the game, to deal with problems and to be worthier of the HEA...
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