The Arcane Underworld series has it all. Demons. Fanatical cultists. Dark magic. Now throw in a group of down-on-their-luck thieves working for one Enoch Sobell, possibly the scariest and most powerful crime lord that ever lived. So what does it tell you when even the big boss man is rattled by a new threat entering the playing field?

If you like your urban fantasy dark with a touch of horror, Splintered and its predecessor Premonitions will be perfect for you. This sequel picks up shortly after the events of the first book, following the lives of Karyn Ames’ crew in the wake of their big heist to steal an ancient occult artifact. Ever since Karyn’s affliction has taken her out of the picture though, Anna Ruiz has stepped up to lead the gang, hoping to help her friend break free of the debilitating visions that have cut her off from reality.

Enoch Sobell, however, has further plans for the crew. No longer are Anna and her friends carrying out mere thefts for the crime lord. His demands have gotten more disturbing and extreme in recent weeks, as evidenced by their latest job, which involves shadier deals like kidnapping. But what they didn’t count on is that their target has a loyal following of acolyte mages who will stop at nothing to get him back. Now Anna, Genevieve and Nail find themselves in way over their heads, tangled in a web of violence and blood magic.

Like the first book, this one also features a great mix of urban fantasy, mystery and psychological thrills, but it takes off in some new directions as well. I love heist books, which is why I enjoyed Premonitions so much, but as it turned out, there’s a lot less thieving action this time around in Splintered. Still, the story makes up for this by being much darker, which suited me just fine. Many parts of the book even bordered on horror, including a bunch of messy scenes that featured demonic possession, the summoning of nightmarish monsters, as well as the brutal consequence of black magic.

Also, now that Karyn has gotten lost in her hallucinations, Anna has taken over as the head of the crew as well as de facto main protagonist. As a result we see a lot less of Karyn, which was slight disappointment since she was my favorite character in book one, as well as the member of the crew that I found most interesting. Because of the frightening and unpredictable nature of Karyn’s visions, Premonitions was a real head-trip, and I thought Jamie Schultz did a really good job giving readers a glimpse into the scary world that is her mind. Sadly, we lose much of that in this book.

The bright side though? This development gives us the opportunity to know the other crew members better. And what fascinating characters they are. Anna is doing her best to lead the group, but is finding that hard to do with Sobell breathing down her neck. Karyn’s plight is also always on the back of Anna’s mind, quite possibly affecting her job as well as her relationship with fellow thief and girlfriend Genevieve, whose loyalties are still on the fence. As the newest member of the crew, Gen is still a big question mark for me. I’m not willing to trust her fully just yet, and after this book things should get even more interesting.

But perhaps the biggest star of the story for me is Nail, the crew’s muscle and the guy who brings the big guns. In spite of this, he clearly has a soft side. Nail is the kind of man who would do anything for family – in this case, that’s his crew as well as his older brother DeWayne, whose gambling problem has gotten him in debt with the wrong people. For such a minor character, DeWayne stole the show for the brief moments he appeared, and I loved his interactions with Nail. I really hope we’ll see more of him in future books.

Now, here’s the deal: Splintered was a great sequel. But as much as I enjoyed it, I think I still have to give the edge to the first book. I love the darker, grittier feel of this book but I just have to confess, I simply love heist stories way too much, so Premonitions will always have a special place in my heart. I also thought Splintered faltered with a plot that was difficult to follow at times, especially when I was trying to figure out how all the different plot threads – the search for Karyn’s cure, Van Horn’s kidnapping, and Sobell’s job on Mona Gorow’s house, etc. – were supposed to fit together. In the long run though, I suppose it mattered little because the conclusion tied it all up, not to mention the final show down was all kinds of awesome.

With the stakes remaining this high, you can count me in for book three – especially if it means getting to find out whether or not Karyn gets back in the game. I’m burning for more dark urban fantasy in my reading, and Jamie Schultz definitely knows how to bring it. ( )