Smoke & Mirrors by C.L. Schneider
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dahlia Nite is back to up her old tricks again and this time, she is chasing a banshee through the streets of Sentinel City, something very unusual must have brought it there, but after she and her Sidekick Casey Evans take it out and they succeed despite its best efforts to kill them in return, but no sooner than they are done that they are called in to another gruesome scene at the riverbank, a lot of body parts have been uncovered by the recent storms and not all of them are human, neither are the bits of tanned skin they find at the scene either, but it isn’t just an animal attack, there are also precision cuts where the parts have been removed and it is in a place where nobody really goes and hasn’t done for many years, but when they are called over to a nearby sewer where there are more body parts floating around, the two decide to go into the tunnels and take a look around.

What they find there looks like a converted jail cell, complete with bars, but it also looks abandoned and smells like it too, as Casey checks out all of the cells, Dahlia hears something moving further down the tunnels and goes to investigate it. They know that she is tailing them and that they are leading her somewhere specific, but she has no idea where, until she enters the basement of an old steel works where rumours of toxic waste and man eating mutated piranhas abound, but what she finds there is more sinister, multiple gurney’s covered in blood where it looks like the victims were strapped on while they were tortured and dismembered, she can sense the horror which lies in wait for her as well. She spies the person running along a skywalk being followed by another three people, but more are on their way as Dahlia is showered in bullets and only just avoids them before being engaged in hand to hand combat, again! She is surprised by the speed and agility, they look human, but she has a feeling that they aren’t, but there is no telltale smell or other indication telling her what they are, but she does her usual, but gets no further information from any of them before she is forced to set the place alight, hoping that there are no more victims being caged there as well.

As she tries to explain away the destruction and get Casey out of the way of it, Detective Creed doesn’t believe her, again and tja Captain of the force wants answers yesterday. The only lead they have is the van tyre tracks which they found and as it is the only solid thing, it means that they will be doing their best to track it down. Just as they finish the meeting Casey informs them of a crime at a past crime scene of an altercation which may have a non-human origin, so all three head three due to its proximity to the steel works. When they get there, Creed interviews the witness and Dahlia goes to look for clues to what happened and what creatures were involved, she finds some blood and some fabric, one she shares and one she examined and keep for further tests, but what she initially finds explains the mystery of how she wasn’t able to smell or use her senses to identify her assailants earlier. She also sees the evidence of a struggle and works out that it probably isn’t prudent to stay in the dark as it is in the backyard of the criminals they are looking for.

Later that night, Dahlia is running tests and comparisons to try and find out what type of creature the suspect is when the alarm in her gym goes off and when she gets there, she knows exactly who and why, she talks to Casey again about the dangers he was just walking into and although she understands that he just wants to feel close to and find his sister, she still tells him off until they are interrupted by someone being attacked, they try to help, but the victim doesn’t speak their language and as they are trying to decide what to do, they escape, now they have to worry a out then becoming a victim of a different type, these worries are put onto the back burner when a new lead appears and when it shows other connections, the hunt is in for her and Creed.

Will they be able to figure out who is behind the abductions and dismemberments, or will they fall foul of more than they can handle as the tangled web of secrets is revealed? This is another whirlwind of a tide across realms where revelations are not always what they seem and which hook you into their mysteries as well.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

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