After getting off the rollercoaster that was book one of the Dane Curse series, I quickly bought a ticket for The Coconut Swindle, hoping for equal chills and thrills. It doesn't quite match book one, but it's still a top-notch genre-blender.

OK, the prequel aspect: I have mixed feelings about prequels, so having book two in the series jump back in time was a gamble, in my opinion. A lot of the character development is fascinating – the insanely ambitious yet scrupulously honest Laars Monday being a good example – but if you've read book one, you know a lot of these characters aren't in any real danger. This throws a few pails of water on the otherwise scorching action, and is a general weakness in prequels.

I also thought the story started out a little slow, but I figured Abraham would get revved up eventually, and my faith wasn't misplaced. The witticisms are just as sharp as book one; there are plenty of battles, explosions, and ingenious escapes; the pulp is pulpy; and the characters are just as awesome.

Overall, Abraham's writing is stronger. The museum scenes are especially well-written, and in fact I'll reread them so I can savor the details. I do have a gripe, though: Abraham loves to begin sentences with “And” and “Then," which is off-putting, especially during the action scenes.

The case itself is far more technical and convoluted than the first book's. I was hooked at first, but the layers of complexity just kept coming, and I found myself wishing for book one's relatively straightforward case. The payoff also wasn't as good as book one's nuclear-grade finale. Oh, there's an epic battle, of course, and Abraham does his best to keep the tension and emotion high, but the last few pages just don't have that oomph.

Of course, this book still gets four stars, because it's so damned inventive and witty, and I'll be ready for “Old Iron” whenever Abraham drops it onto the indie world. ( )