Description: As part of his regular street performance, a deception specialist who goes by the name The Raven picks his audience's pockets while they watch. It's harmless fun--until he decides to keep the spare wallet a city councilman doesn't seem to miss, hoping for a few extra bucks. When he finds not money but compromising photos of the councilman and his "personal assistants," The Raven hatches a plan to blackmail the man. However, he quickly finds himself in over his head with the Ukrainian Mafia and mired in a life-threatening plot code-named, "Nevermore."
Private investigators Trudi Coffey and Samuel Hill must scramble to sort out the clues--and their complicated feelings for each other--to rescue The Raven and save hundreds of lives from a wildcard bent on revenge.
My Thoughts: Within the first couple of pages, you can definitely tell that the author has a degree in English Lit. All of his descriptions are what my Lit professor would have called "top-shelf" details, or things that are more than common descriptions. They're the kind of details that fans of Literary Fiction absolutely love.
I'm not sure what I think about the two "main" characters, Trudi and Samuel, being a divorced couple. It does make for good conflict, though it also seems to give Trudi some bad habits when it comes to trying to prove to Samuel that she can live just fine without him. Since I imagine their's is a relationship that will take the rest of the series to wrap up, I won't pass judgement on it yet.
As to the rest of the book, the Raven is a pretty amusing character, with an internal dialogue that served for some much needed comic relief after reading about all the other horrible things taking place in the story. At times, I thought the story went far too long without coming back to him. Even though the Raven had his secrets, he still felt like the only character I truly understood. However, some people may not enjoy the Raven's personality as his thought process tended to be completely ridiculous.
On the whole, I think this novel is one worth reading. The Raven is an enjoyable character and the suspense in the novel is pretty intense. Still, I would check out other reviews before making a final decision.
I have provided an honest review after I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
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