Lustbader's language is superb. I got really mesmerised with the prose.This is only my second pure-Lustbader book apart from 'Sirens', besides these I have read all the Bourne novels by Lustbader. The fact that I haven't read previous Nicholas Linnear novels took its toll on me as I got confused with some of the characters. I think building up a character with a Nietzschean philosophy is a great idea but the oriental rituals of eating an enemy's innards was quite disgusting. Mick Leonforte was not a villain of the calibre of villains that Lustbader has created in Bourne novels like Stepan Spalko in Bourne Legacy and Maceo Encarnacion in Bourne Imperative. I think Lustbader can do better.