It's hard to write a review that is not a comparison to either the first book of the series or to the other Sanderson series. But as I haven't written reviews to those, that's not an option.

So as a stand-alone book, this one tones down the fantasy elements a bit. Mind you, there are still present and very much in the foreground, but the magic/alchemy system has grown so complex by now that the book wisely choses to not depend on a deep understanding or even base it's story to much on discovering more unknown details about it. It rather just treats some characters as having super hero-like abilities to fancy up the action scenes and more than one time offer an easy way out (narrative-wise) to otherwise pretty dead-end situations. The thriller part can't really decide if it wants to be serial-killer hunt or whodoneit. It introduces some distracting characters to finally return back to the central cast for the resolution, which in hindsight wasn't that elegant. I'm personally a big fan of the magic system and the 'discovering long-lost knowledge and abilities' concept so this book let me down a little. I treat it as a bridge to the third which hopefully returns to old form.