In A Foul Thing, Roma and Juliette have established themselves as the heads of an underground weapons ring in Zhouzhuang, making a living the way they do best while remaining anonymous in their quiet life.
But when they hear about Russian girls showing up dead in nearby towns, they decide to investigate – and discover that this mystery is closer to home than they ever imagined . . .
In This Foul Murder, Benedikt and Marshall have been summoned by Roma to find the elusive scientist, Lourens, and bring him to Zhouzhuang. Time is of the essence aboard the week-long Trans-Siberian Express, but when someone is murdered on board, Benedikt and Marshall convince the officer in charge they are investigators and promise they can solve the murder if he doesn’t stop the train.
But as they dig deeper, they realize that the murder might having surprising ties to their own mission . . .
- Title: Last Violent Call
- Author: Chloe Gong
- Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
- Publication Date: February 28, 2023
- Genre: Historical Fiction
- Source: ARC provided by Publisher in exchange for an honest review
- Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
- Content Warnings: PTSD, Nightmares, Violence, Guns, Knives, Injury
- Rating: ★★★★★
I loved reading Chloe Gong’s These Violent Delights, Our Violent Ends and Foul Lady Fortune, so you can only imagine how excited I was to receive an ARC of Last Violent Call. I often wish that my favorite stories were longer; I’m a huge fan of extended epilogues, and bonus content, and loved the opportunity to see how Roma, Juliette, Benedikt and Marshall were doing after Our Violent Ends. Last Violent Call is comprised of two novellas — A Foul Thing, and This Foul Murder, with the first focusing on Roma and Juliette, and the latter following Benedikt and Marshall.
A Foul Thing is centered around Roma and Juliette’s lives, approximately three years after the events of Our Violent Ends. The events in A Foul Thing intertwine perfectly with Foul Lady Fortune, so I do highly recommend that you pick Last Violent Call up after reading Foul Lady Fortune if you don’t want any spoilers! A Foul Thing offers a different perspective to the Roma and Juliette we’ve seen before; they’re a little softer, a little older. Time and space has offered them more of a chance to come to terms with their past, and to begin to heal. Without giving too much away, I loved how we got to see Roma and Juliette at peace, and settle into themselves. Roma and Juliette have to grapple with who they are outside of the blood feud and their family legacies, and I think it was a lovely exploration of growing up, growing into yourself, and healing from your traumas. I loved seeing Roma through Juliette’s eyes in a way we haven’t before — how he encourages her to be kinder, more trusting, and how they both still choose love, over everything, despite the risks it may cost them. While reading Foul Lady Fortune, I had several questions that I hoped would be addressed in the sequel — namely, about Roma and Juliette, and I’m relieved that a lot of my questions about them specifically were addressed in A Foul Thing. Gong seamlessly ties in the events of These Violent Delights and Foul Lady Fortune with A Foul Thing.
This Foul Murder is a locked room mystery, and I found it so delightful! I often struggle with murder mysteries, and picking up on clues, but I found the reveal in This Foul Murder to be really clever. I vaguely remember texting Caitlyn as I read These Violent Delights and later, Our Violent Ends, and asking for more BenMars content. Marshall’s humor, the BenMars dynamic, hints about how Marshall and Juliette still have gossiping sessions — it was just so wonderful to read about.
This is definitely a lot more lighthearted, and low-stakes than the rest of the books in the These Violent Delights universe. Gong’s comedic humor, as well as the way she writes romance, and strong character dynamics, really shines through. I’d highly recommend Last Violent Call to anyone who enjoyed the These Violent Delights series, and anyone who is looking for a quick fix of comfort after the events of Foul Lady Fortune.
Links for Last Violent Call: Goodreads | TheStorygraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Chloe Gong is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Secret Shanghai novels, as well as the Flesh and False Gods trilogy. Her books have been published in over twenty countries and have been featured in the New York Times, PEOPLE, Forbes and more. She is a recent graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she double-majored in English and International Relations. Born in Shanghai and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, Chloe is now located in New York City, pretending to be a real adult.
