I devoured this book! I read book 1 some time ago, and picked this one up when I needed fast paces sci-fi, and it delivered. A lot of typical sci-fi concepts are explored, so it might feel a bit much sometimes, but it was too fun to read to rate the book lower.
A real page -turner

Thanks very much to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. Many thanks, Dave

I'm very late in writing this review, but wow this was such a fab sequel! I can't wait for more because I love the characters and the political thriller vibes although different from the suspenseful tone of the previous book, still had me hooked. I don't know how they do it, but Orbit is one of my favourite publishers and I'm going to get this series in paperback because it's too good not to!

Aunque la primera entrega de esta saga me había parecido entretenida, es cierto que algunos detalles no habían terminado de convencerme. Parece como si Megan O’Keefe hubiera leído la reseña y hubiera tomado nota cuidadosamente, pues esos puntos de inocencia y credulidad desaparecen en unos personajes mucho más curtidos y desarrollados, pero sin que desaparezcan las revelaciones y las conspiraciones que formaban el entramado de Velocity Weapon.


La novela continúa la historia que se había desarrollado en la primera entrega de la serie, pero con una apuesta bastante arriesgada ya que desaparece de escena uno de los dos personajes principales que con su presencia sustentaba gran parte de la historia. No conforme con esto, se introducen algunos personajes nuevos que tienen que entrar en la dinámica de forma muy acelerada para cumplir su papel, quizá no fundamental pero sí relevante. O’Keefe sale airosa de ambos retos, en parte debido a la atractiva personalidad de Sandra, con quien ya habíamos empatizado por su minusvalía que realmente no es impedimento en ningún momento y también por el valor que despliega la panoplia de secundarios con los que interactúa.

Me ha gustado especialmente la forma en que se van descubriendo los planes del «archienemigo» y su justificación moral. Quizá en algunos momentos el libro se convierta en una especie de correveidile con los constantes desplazamientos entre localizaciones convenientemente situadas que quizá no sean necesarias (o sí) para que avance la historia. También el personaje de Biram se va desdibujando un poco, borrado de la novela por la arrolladora personalidad de su hermana y con una subtrama amorosa que parece un poco forzada.

Aunque por supuesto la historia continuará en el siguiente libro, esta vez la autora ha conseguido darle un cierto cierre a este capítulo de la saga, aún con muchos hilos pendientes de resolución. Así, parece un libro completo y no solo el prólogo de los siguientes.

Sapace battles, artificial intelligence and above all characters about whom you can really care. What's not to like?

You might have noticed me gushing about the first book in this series sometime last year. Velocity Weapon, it was such a great start to a series. It blew my mind multiple times and it was just what I needed at the time, I think. I was a bit too excited for the sequel and just as afraid of it. Mostly because I was wondering whether Chaos Vector will be able to grip me the way Velocity Weapon did with its continuous reveals and shocks. It did better! It hit me where it hurts the most. Character growth and just mostly character focused book in general. That really helped me, I think. I wasn’t sure if I could take any more hits like the first one. Not that there aren’t surprises in store for the readers but you know, this time around, it’s better.

If the first book shone because of Sanda, it shines even greater this time because of her and so much more. The way the last book left off, there were more questions and fates hanging in balance than solutions or answers. This time around, we see Sanda surviving, we see her trying to figure out what’s inside her brain, to try to figure out how long she has until someone comes after her for that thing. There are also tons of things happening outside of her brain, like the very real possibility of the whole universe/world being destroyed and how it might be in her hands to try to salvage it. The whole thing just comes together in such a cohesive and brilliant way, O’Keefe has done a brilliant job at bringing about a found family in a way that stays real with the characters.

I think we see Sanda more deeply than before too. It’s not a surprise that she’s a ballsy and smart woman but we see her love for those she cares about, we see her internal struggles and fears and how she tries to do her best in spite of that. Also if you know me at all, you know I like sassy characters, well, this found family has snark in abundance! I love their interactions with each other and how much they care for each other. How diverse and distinctive each of them are. They have distinctive voices and their own thoughts and a certain role to play in the grand scheme of things.

Overall, I think this book managed to capture my attention while I was reading and even when I wasn’t reading it. The way the first book ended and now this one too! I need answers, I am just impatient and greedy that way but please, just gimme the next installment already. I want to know so much more that’s been given to me. Listen, this is a heck of a ride with explosions and shocking turns aplenty, it is also something I would love to see in a TV show because it has that big a scope or maybe even a movie because the bigger budget would probably help. In short, it’s entertaining as heck, it’s action packed and I loved it.

An excellent addition to this series. Great world building and character development, an excellent story that kept me hooked, a fascinating world building.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I'm sorry to say that I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book, Velocity Weapon. While the first story was something of a horror/suspense novel, this is more of a political thriller and while it's ably written it just didn't do it for me in the same way. That's not to say that the book is bad, just that if you are expecting the same kind of cat and mouse game as there was between Sanda, Bero and Tomas you will be disappointed.

However, I enjoyed seeing more of Sanda, Biran and Tomas, and learning more about the Greeve family history. The overarching plot about the mysterious origin of the Gates and why the Keepers and Guardcore were founded was interesting and unfolded just fast enough so that I was kept guessing until the end! I'll definitely pick up the next book.

Following Velocity Weapon, Chaos Vector takes us further into the twisted world of The Protectorate. Further meaning both deeper and higher.

Deeper, because while the first book focussed on a rebellion in a remote system, where the planet of Icarion was challenging the local leadership of the galaxy-spanning Prime government, Chaos Vector goes beyond that conflict, revealing more about the hidden forces which have been shaping the destiny of Prime.

Higher, because even beyond those shady figures in the background, there are greater powers at work. O'Keefe's writing is like a constantly revealed map, with each new unfold opening fresh perspectives on what went before, showing things that seemed close as distinct and offering new symbols and features to fit into the pattern.

We begin, as in Velocity Weapon, with Major Sanda Greeve. All she has ever wanted to do was to defend prime, to protect her brother, Speaker Biran. Yet after her gunship was destroyed at the battle of Dralee, everything went wrong. She's been kidnapped by a rogue AI, put on trial for piracy by Icarion, experimented on, spaced by a traitor Keeper and - now - framed for said Keeper's murder. Sanda is pretty cross and is now searching for the truth.

Probably a bad move, as the hard-bitten gang of Grotta outcasts comprising Jules, Now and Arden discovered for themselves in the previous book when they raided the wrong warehouse for the drug Wraith and poked their noses into the wrong places in that warehouse. Now they're scattered and in hiding.

We saw these two threads of story evolve in parallel throughout Velocity Weapon and I think this was a brave decision by O'Keefe, allowing each to develop at the right pace rather than forcing things together too early. It's not too much of s spoiler I hope to say that in Chaos Vector, they finally merge, as Sanda gets command of a ship again and forms her own strange but powerful crew, fit to explore the weird corners of this universe. The strange gates that link distant systems. The unknown, powerful military forces that seem to have infiltrated Prime itself. The far-flung research stations pursuing knowledge that Prime forbids. It all takes off here, but to Sanda's frustration she's not free top purse her own vendetta, but has responsibilities thrust on her - for Prime, for the Keepers and, of course, for her brother Biran. While he fights his own bureaucratic battle in conference chambers and over score links - trying to put out the fire that Icarion lit in the first book - Sanda pursues a trail of breadcrumbs halfway across the galaxy.

This is a fast-moving adventure, full of epic battles, treachery, sudden reverses and above all, secrets. EVERYONE here is hiding things and the details are revealed slowly and sparingly - since trust is in short supply. The real tension is not only or not primarily from physical conflict - although there are heart stopping moment you have to read over and again just to be sure you got them right - but from the emotional drumbeat, the rhythm of the story as all that is dependable, sure and safe falls away leaving survival to the quick wits and desperate gambles of Sanda, Tomas, Biran and the rest.

If you thought at the end of Book 1 that you were beginning to understand what was going on, you'll soon realise you don't. And while a great deal is learning by the end of Book 2, I'll guarantee that there are more surprises and twists in store in the next one - which is fine by me, I just need to get my hands on it!

Following up with the second in a series is a tricky thing to do, with the need to offer more of the same while also adding in the new, prompting the reader to recall what happened in the first part without too much recapping and offering enough of a self-contained story to satisfy those strange creatures (I am sometimes one myself) who read individual volumes as standalones. O'Keefe passes this test with aplomb, delivering an intelligent space opera with compelling and flawed characters working their way through a messy, shady world where nothing is as it seems... just perfect SF really.

Stars and stars and more stars. While Velocity Weapon kept both Sanda and Biram bound within their respective enviroments for the majority of the book, Chaos Vector features Sanda and Biram unleashed. And they're going to need every advantage they can find to pull at the thread of the greatest evil sweater that humanity has ever faced. That sure is an analogy. Moving on.

This was space dynamite. Fun factor turned up to 10. You like leaders throwing down some kickass speeches when they’re needed most? So. Many. Inspiring. Speeches. How about some jarring bombshells that you will not see coming? Do you like seeing your favorite characters evolve in strange new directions? Buck up, and get those page-turnin’ fingers ready. They’re gonna get a workout.

I had some trepidation that after all the massive reveals and surprise turns that dropped out of nowhere in Velocity Weapon, they would be lacking in Chaos Vector. There weren't many new characters introduced in this sequel, so how many more times can you manipulate the reader into thinking who is playing who, and why? I am pleased to admit how wrong I was. This is my first O'Keefe series and I now have full faith that she knows exactly where she wants the story to go over the course of the series, and has enough creative fuel to shake the reader to their core whenever she feels like it. My core is shook.

Another aspect I really enjoyed was that however massive a space opera this purports to be, it still keeps its focus on just a few POVs, each with a distinct character voice, and has a strong supporting cast with clearly defined goals and well-defined character-building personalities that add depth beyond their motivations. Even though we never see through the eyes of General Anford or Keeper Vladsen or Nox, we can often predict how they'll react to certain challenges, and it goes a long way in fleshing out the world's enrichment and reader's immersion.

There's not much I didn't like about Chaos Vector. Perhaps there's a couple of a too-strong coincidences where two disparate groups were tied together by two completely random events; This is a bit harder to swallow when we're talking about multiple galaxies instead of a high school reunion. "Oh my gosh, she's your cousin? Wow, she's on my office softball team! And your uncle teaches physics? He was my professor in college! How random!!" But, y'know, across milions of light years. Though it serves the purpose of the story, and that's what we're here for.

Even a rogue AI would five-star this puppy. How do I know? .. .BECAUSE I AM-- err, because it's just an incredbily fun, heart-quickening page-turner that will keep you up late, and make you pump your fist at all the cool parts. And there's a lot of 'em. This is as a great time as any for your brain to get the hell off this planet and go visit some galaxies wayyyyy far away, so start this series post-haste.

I was badly struggling for the first 20% of this one to really care all that much. I’m not a fan of pages of info-dumping – and that’s what we got, as the author went into lots of detail about the world, leaving the characters waving in the wind in the process.

There were times when O’Keefe seemed a tad overwhelmed by the scope and scale of her world and range of her characters. Fortunately, we had Sanda and Biran, and once the story got going, these two main characters with their attendant plotlines pulled the book back on track. But I thought Jules was something of a cliché, and that the book suffered because we didn’t see anything like enough of Tomas. Given what a vital role he played in the first book, we got far too little of him in this one – especially as there was a plot twist involving him that I found plain irritating, as I immediately realised how it was going to play out.

Despite these hiccups, the story was an entertaining read with plenty going on and a detailed, nuanced world, whose murky history is coming back to bite the Protectorate in the bottom. Some of the flashbacks were unnecessary – the information we needed could have been depicted within the narrative timeframe without breaking the flow of the story. But I did enjoy the politicking among the Keepers and I love Sanda’s character. This one finished on something of a cliffhanger, so I’m hoping we won’t be waiting too long for the next book in the series. Recommended for fans of epic space opera with plenty going on. While I obtained an arc of Chaos Vector from the publisher via Netgalley, the opinions I have expressed are unbiased and my own.
7/10

I was so excited to get approved for this, I loved Velocity Weapon so much and I couldn’t wait to read this. Let me tell you I was not disappointed, not one little bit. I felt like I had never left Sanda and Tomas, it was so good to be with them, full of action, drama, tension and I loved how much more character focused this book is, I mean the first book was fabulous but this just seemed to be another level for the characters and their journey. Megan is just a master of plot, things sneaking up on you, expertly woven in, full of subterfuge and nothing obvious and it builds up that you are tense and anxious as you read (maybe it’s just me but I do ) This was a fabulous follow up to an amazing book, I think I may have liked this even more. Roll on future books by Megan, I will definitely read anything she writes now, she has been added to the must buy and favourite authors list.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Reviewed by my co-blogger, Emma.

I loved Velocity Weapon, but since a decent part of the entertainment factor of the first book was having my jaw hit the floor with each successive reveal, I did have to wonder whether that format would be used again and whether it could work as well second time around. Thankfully, I needn’t have worried. What Megan O’Keefe did instead was minimise the tricks and go large on character. It made me realise how important and impactful the cast had actually been and that it had been them just as much as the shocks that so gripped me before. There are definitely still surprises in Chaos Vector, but they supplement the story instead of being the framework upon which it is built. It means that there’s a greater cohesiveness here, a forward momentum and linear connectivity that was somewhat limited by the way the various threads worked in the last book. The different perspectives are cleverly interwoven to build upon each other, every part clearly integral to the story, and the emotional connection is all the more powerful for it.

She grinned, tasted iron, and licked the blood from her teeth. “You know what the last thing I got arrested for was?’ … ‘Spaceship piracy’

The new format allows Sanda to shine. Even more so than before, I mean. Because this time it’s not just about survival… it’s about survival AND a whole shipload more problems, all of them life-threatening or world-ending. If there’s a shit creek in space, she’s up it, paddle nowhere to be seen. Her only way out lies in discovering what’s hidden inside her skull before someone kills her for it. But she can’t do it alone. She needs a crew. And this is where the whole thing comes brilliantly together. The author has a real talent for developing relationships; allowing the reader to feel the growing connections between people, revealing how burgeoning trust leads to friendship, bringing you into the found family she has created and making you feel like one of them. At the heart of it all is Sanda, who has that same kind of skillset, doing for her crew what Megan O’Keefe does for us: giving people a place that feels like home.

Sanda’s all attitude on the surface, but underneath she cares deeply for those around her and she fights, hard and dirty, for what she thinks is right. She’s so far from perfect, she makes mistakes and gets into a ton of trouble, but she’s also smart and ballsy, real on a you-and-me level, and faces problems with an incomparable level of badassery. No wonder she draws people to her— I would fight for her. Chaos Vector has cemented her place in my list of favourite female characters, and just putting it out there, I’ll read however many more books about her the author can possibly write. Of course, she’s only one of the great characters in the book. There’s beautiful diversity everywhere you look, none of it cliche or add-on, and each person has their own thing, their true-to-themselves voice. Her crew might be the best part, but everyone has their role to play. The interaction is punchy with snark as the baseline for communication and some conversations had me laughing out loud. Even in the midst of high energy scenes, all blood and explosions, there’s still time for some humour. For all the grand political machinations, dystopian inequality, and uncountable deaths, the focus on family and friendship gives the book a heartwarming feel even when things get really dark.

Chaos Vector isn’t dull for a single second, with worldbuilding and action that’s both cinematic in scope and exciting as hell-- I’d love to see this on screen. With this series, O’Keefe has progressed classic space opera into something bolder, more modern, and truly fun. When I turned the last page, it felt like I hadn’t been given enough time. Especially since the author revealed some seriously big questions that needed answering IMMEDIATELY (ok, ok, I have zero patience, I know) and because she loves a dramatic and abrupt ending to drive her readers crazy. This series is just so damn readable. I blasted though the whole thing and still wanted more, mostly because I didn’t want to leave the characters, these friends, behind. Bring on what comes next ASAP please.


ARC via Netgalley

“We all have our one.”
“One?”
“The one person you’d burn the universe down to save, or to condemn.”
“and do we get one of each?”
She smiled to herself, tight and strained. “No. Life’s never that clean.”

I recently read Velocity Weapon, now one of my all-time favourite sci-fi books due to O’Keefe’s loveable characters, sarcastic sense of humour and knack for devising a completely unpredictable storyline. I was therefore extremely excited to jump straight into an advanced copy of CHAOS VECTOR.

If Velocity Weapon blew your mind, CHAOS VECTOR will scrape your remaining brain goo off the floor and launch it into space to be vaporised with a full complement of laser guns.

While the standout feature of Velocity Weapon comes from the twisting storyline and unexpected plot nI wasn’t anticipating this experience to persist in CHAOS VECTOR, thinking it an unrealistic expectation to have of any sequel. At first this was more or less accurate as O’Keefe dives into the aftermath of the closing events in Velocity Weapon and delivers more of her signature intrigue and political espionage. But very soon I found I was quite wrong.

I have no idea how O’Keefe has mined so many fantastic ideas and deployed them all cohesively without relying on suspiciously convenient plot devices, but she did, and the result is incredibly fun. I had butterflies in my stomach as this book reached its climax which, despite all of my best efforts to predict, caught me entirely by surprise. The closing chapters of CHAOS VECTOR are both thrilling and satisfying, while impossibly leaving key questions to be answered in the next instalment.

"Essential communications only," Sanda said. An emoji middle finger popped up in her text display."

CHAOS VECTOR continues the three POVs from Velocity Weapon delivered in the same punchy, short chapter format. There are many familiar faces and I was pleased to get to know Arden, Nox, Tomas and Graham a little better. There are also some new and likeable characters who complete an endearing little space crew. O’Keefe manages to create compelling characters in between all the conspiracies and action so I hope there is time to explore their relationships further in the next book, though admittedly they are fairly busy saving the universe.

O’Keefe also introduces some new sci-fi elements in this instalment like the virtual interface internet and some pretty epic space battles that will please any hard space opera fan.

I realise I haven’t actually provided any plot details, but this isn’t out of laziness. I assume that if you’ve read Velocity Weapon, CHAOS VECTOR is already high up your To Be Read list, and if you’re new to The Protectorate I don’t want to spoil any of the details. If this review has piqued your interest check out the first chapter of Velocity Weapon for freeon the Orbit website.

I began this review by boasting about my early access to CHAOS VECTOR, so I’ll conclude by complaining that I have to wait almost a whole month longer than most people to get my hands on the next instalment.

Thank you to Netgalley and Orbit for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review, and congratulations to Megan E. O’Keefe for another fantastic novel.

Chaos Vector is the second book in Megan O’Keefe’s Protectorate series. I’ve been a fan of O’Keefe’s work for ages, and really enjoyed Velocity Weapon, the first in this sci-fi series, so hopes were high on this one. And it definitely delivers. There’s a lot of entertaining, high-concept sci-fi in there - from pieces of jump-gate plans living inside people’s skulls, to gunships coasting between the stars, to off-the grid research stations trying to find their way around the technological restrictions of humanity’s interstellar government, and well, all sorts of dark secrets that I won’t speak about for the sake of spoilers. But underneath that, this is a story about people, and relationships. That said, there’s an absolute cracker of a story here too, as those characters investigate old mysteries, are caught up in new conspiracies, and kick some serious arse.

The universe...well, it’s one where a brewing system-wide war is (at least nominally) over. But there’s still a question of how to handle the aftermath. We mostly see one side of this - a space filled with diplomats and crisis management, and a sense of underlying tension in everything that gets done. There’s a ticking clock here, as the survivors on both sides try and work out how to keep everyone alive. We also get to see more from the mysterious Keepers. They handle most of the governance for the system(and, indeed, outside it), each carrying around part of the knowledge needed to construct the gates that let humanity move between the stars. One of our protagonists is now firmly embedded in the Keepers, and finding his ideals, his idea of what the group should be, running on the rocks of what it actually is. Partly this is because of the drive of organisations to perpetuate themselves, and partly...other factors. There are some sections of the story which draw us back into the past, looking at the formation of the Keepers, the construction of the Gates, and how humanity was shaped into the society we’re seeing in the rest of the story - and both the older organisation, striving for survival with both vitality and appalling ruthlessness, and the “current” one are fascinating, believable, compelling and, occasionally, horrifying. This is a story which shows us systems and societies as a means of challenging both their internal assumptions, and those of the reader. From orbital habitats run by clandestine researchers, to the military arm of the Keepers, and over to nefarious, high-stakes band of assassins-slash-retrieval specialists, there’s a diversity and depth to the social structures, providing a rich and imaginative playground for our characters to, well, make a mess of.

On which note: Sanda and Biran are back! They both carry on their viewpoints from the previous book, and both are an absolute joy. Sanda is in full take-no-prisoners mode, running on adrenaline, kicking arse and taking names. But in between those moments where she shakes things until they come loose, there are quieter periods of reflection> Sanda is trying to work out who she is now, struggling with internalising her role as a public heroine with her own desire to do her job, quietly, efficiently and with as little fuss as possible. At the same time, she has the sense of moral purpose, clarity and strength of personality to drive forward, to search out truth, try and understand things, and to change them for the better. Sanda is being put into a constructed role, true enough, but she is managing to embody the principles behind that role regardless, even as she struggles to define herself, rather than be defined by others. Sanda...ah, she’s complicated, in the best way. Her relationship with her family - warmly affectionate with her parents, and her brother - is a genuine high point. Her self-doubts, conflicts and desire to be better are easy to empathise with, and make her both sympathetic and more human. And Sanda is agonisingly, wonderfully human; a person who could step off the page and have a drink and a chat with you, and that’s a fact.

Biran is equally intriguing. Now fully immersed in Keeperdom, he’s a charmer, a fast-talker, and slowly, slowly getting to grips with the levers of power. If he’s an idealist, still, that’s wonderful - but the tarnish is there, as he tried to leverage a system which doesn’t want to be useful to do what he requires of it. His love for Sanda is clear and comforting, and helps keep him grounded. Still, Biran seems fit to survive and thrive in the cutthroat world of Keeper politics. His caution, and willingness to internalise struggles whilst displaying another face to the world, is by turns impressive and troubling. Still, as someone trying to do the right thing, despite his flaws, Biran is great fun to travel alongside.

They’re surrounded by a truly fantastic supporting cast, including some complex, believable, and occasionally downright appalling antagonists. In all cases, though, there are no caricatures. Each of our (probable) heroes and (possible) villains has their own agenda, their own needs and drives, which make them feel real, and alive. We may not agree with their choices - vehemently so, even - but can see where they’re coming from. They have a depth and integrity that makes them concretely, believably real.

And the story...well, this one’s a doozy. I don’t want to go into any detail, because the twists, the reveals, the turn-on-a-dime gasp of surprise, well, they’re all here, and I won’t be the one to ruin it for you. But this is a tightly plotted narrative, winding up tension and clicking down to the denouement with beautiful precision. It’s a story which is happy to lead you up the metaphorical garden path, and then behind the metaphorical woodshed, where you’ll run into some metaphorical muggers. What I thought was going on...well, it often was, but the reasons why, and the context of those reasons, were liable to change, to revelation, to differences in points of view and clarity. This is a book which made me say”No way..” a lot. It’s a really interesting story, in any case - talking about the stories we tell ourselves personally, and as a society; the way sometimes those stories are lies, and the way that sometimes they also reveal more hidden truths. About what humanity is, what it tells itself it is, and what it can be. About the need for regular people to be decent, and about the price we can be willing to pay to reach our goals. Some of this story is captured in the marvellous, sometimes searingly emotional character work, but it’s also there in the questions the story asks of us, and the answers it (sometimes) provides.

This is a very clever book, asking interesting questions, showing us people at their best and worst, in a world which is not only rich and imaginative, but feels wonderfully real. It’s a top-notch sequel, and highly, highly recommended.

Velocity Weapon was one of my favourite reads of last year, one of those you get to the end and want more immediately. Well come July there will BE more, in the form of Chaos Vector which continues Sanda and co’s adventures with flair and style.

Bero has disappeared to who knows where, Sanda is on the run with Dad in tow, our other characters are scattered about in precarious positions and pretty much from page one you know this is going to be one heck of an adventure.

This author has such a fantastic way with words, her descriptive sense is intuitive and involving, the characters pop from the page and the world building is second to none.

The protectorate series that started with Velocity Weapon is shaping up to be one of the best scifi series of recent years with political intrigue, diverse and eclectic characters plus you know. Action. Lots and lots of edge of the seat action. All creatively excellent with pitch perfect delivery.

Really can’t recommend these highly enough

I adored Chaos Vector - I didn't get the chance to re-read Velocity Weapon first, and so it took me about a quarter of the book to get properly back into the swing of things, but once I did I was utterly gripped. The character development was brilliant, and I was utterly invested (perhaps even more so than during the first book). Although this book is perhaps slightly more character driven, there are still plenty of fast-paced twists and turns, and more loose ends to keep me eagerly waiting for the next one (without being a frustrating experience - I'm not a cliffhanger fan in general). I found myself stretching out the reading of this one, just so it didn't have to end.