Hardcover, ROC, June 2013.
Also a Christmas present and received with cries of joy. I like much of what this author produces, (he lost me partway through his Deathstalker series) and while I don’t like the Drood series (of which this is the 7th ) quite as much as other series like the Nightside, Haven, the loose ‘Blue Moon’ grouping, and Ghost Finders, I do enjoy it sufficiently to have the series shelved in my ‘permanent’ section. Interestingly in this book there is substantial bleedover from others of Green’s series too, with Nightside and Ghost Finders characters popping up in a number of places. In Casino Infernale too I think that a reader would have had to have read at least the last couple of books in the series to know the background. If you haven’t you could have trouble picking up a number of the plot threads because this is an intensification of previous action.
Eddie and his beloved Molly Metcalf, have been given a mission by the Department of the Uncanny. They are to attend Casino Infernale and break the bank that backs the casino, The Shadow Bank. Many have tried, to date none have succeeded, but Eddie and Molly had better not fail because those behind the Shadow Bank have plans and not good ones. Entangled with all this there’s a return of the car (with a personality all of its own,) J.C. From Ghost Hunters, an appearance of the Nazi version of Valkyries, several million sort-of-clones, an equine God, two great characters from Shadows Fall, and a resounding ending in which the bad guys become the good guys…sort-of.
The ongoing mystery of just how Molly’s parents did die and who was really responsible moves on slightly, with hints that the person they know to have committed the actual killings may have been justified in some way, under duress, or even not quite as guilty as claimed. IF you have already read at least the book before this one, Casino Infernale is recommended. If not, start at the beginning and get to it. The journey? Fun.