This is the 9th Barnard Samson book I’ve read, so clearly I enjoyed the characters that populated these stories and was interested in the kinds of intrigue in which they got entangled. Although these are advertised as standalone books, the reader would lose a lot if the books were not read in order (since the past stories propelled the characters to their current situations). This book tied up most of the loose ends from the other books. As this book was the last in the Barnard Samson series, I will now have to go through a withdrawal process -- and I think that’s the only problem I have with this book.