Dance with the Devil

Dance with the Devil (Mercenary Librarians #3) by Kit Rocha (2022) 352 pages

I continued to enjoy this series. It picks up immediately after the events of the second book, and a relatively short span of time has past in total in all three books. The TechCorps security memos and such, which are inserted between chapters, are contemporary, so we are past the flashback scientific observation entries from the training days of various members of the team. Dani and Rafe now get to be the center of attention. Their relationship is developed. Their skills are needed especially for the key mission. Dani's superspeed and inability to feel pain as a security expert and Rafe's supersoldier intelligence officer experience make for an entertaining and tense grifter scenario amongst the rich on The Hill. It was teased at the end of the previous book that we would meet Rafe's family and we do. The team of reliable people building a community in the oppressed Five-Points neighborhood of Atlanta continues to grow. The found family continues to care for each other. Despite the gap between the rich and poor as well as the tech and medical dystopia setting, the main characters always find hope in each other. This third part perhaps has more sexiness and more pulse pounding action. There are still chapters from the point of view of each of the main team members, but they are short. This one wrapped up a lot of the story threads from the previous two books. However, there are still characters from the widening circle of Five-Points residents that have not had their chance at the center of a story, and we get hints of a future threat from the Franklin Center for Genetic Research that will lead to further adventures.
 

The Devil You Know

The Devil You Know (Mercenary Librarians #2) by Kit Rocha (2021) 304 pages

I read the first book in this series back in 2020. I was sold by the sales pitch that Deal with the Devil is Orphan Black meets the post-apocalyptic Avengers as well as the series being named the Mercenary Librarians. The story mainly takes place around Atlanta with an evil TechCorps that has monopolized services and resources for the wealthy on the Hill. A small group of super soldier men called the Silver Devils, led by Knox, finally escape being employed by TechCorps when their assignment is to eliminate a group of enhanced lady clones, led by Nina, who subversively help the poor and disenfranchised in the Atlanta area. The first book focuses on the leaders Knox and Nina and how the two groups find family and common purpose. There is action, romance, and psychological tension. This second book develops Maya, who has a super memory and is the primary librarian, and her budding relationship with Gray, the brooding sniper with a brain implant that his body is rejecting. The main mission is to save a bunch of cloned children, and they have a showdown with the big bad who wants our heroes dead. Tobias Richter is the big bad head of TechCorps security. There are chapters from the point of view of each member of the team mixed with traditional chapters in the third person. We also get background hints from company memos and journal entries from the woman who raised Maya. These keep the experiments done to the clones and super soldiers and the abilities they develop fairly mysterious. The found family grows with new members and allies. I'm continuing right away with the third book in the series.
 

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara, 347 pages.

Jai, Pari, and Faiz all live in the same basti (or slum settlement) in an unnamed Indian city. When the second of their classmates  goes missing, Jai believes that he has learned enough from television to become a first class detective and solve the mystery around them. Jais first suspect, a fellow student, is a bully, and connected to a local nationalist group. No one is willing to help, though. The local police are corrupt, and no one with any real power is interested in the fate of the poor, let alone poor children.
Pari is the smart one of the three children, but Jai is somewhat scornful of her advice. Faiz, who holds down a job at a tea shop is too busy to help and tries to convince Jai that the disappearances are the work of malign Djinn, but as the disappearances mount and the children witness too much of the worst that people can do, the truth is more horrifying and prosaic. A compelling book.

Nothing to See Here

Nothing to See Here / Kevin Wilson, 254 p.

So glad I read Kara's review of this.  I thoroughly enjoyed this story of Lillian, a once-promising young woman living a dead-end life who's tapped by her old friend, the wealthy and mysterious Madison, to care for her two stepchildren.  The catch is that the two, Bessie and Roland, have a tendency to ignite, literally, when upset, stressed, or angry.  Will Lillian learn to control their combustibility?  Is there a solution that lies beyond covering them in anti-flammable stunt gel and leaving them in the swimming pool all day?

The tone of this novel is a delightful sweet melancholy.  Wilson has found a near perfect metaphor-that's-not-quite-a-metaphor to express the impact of committing to a child on an adult's life.  Things get hot, messy, and unpredictable. But not necessarily bad.