Hallinan’s series can be described as vivid, poetic, often funny, always aware of social issues, and yes, thrilling. But in this installment another of his qualities as a writer is on display that isn’t often associated with thrillers: tenderness. Though the evil at work is not so much larger than life as it is a normal kind of greed and selfishness, the depiction of the characters, old and young, threatened by greed is the novel’s big-hearted center.