Holy con man!

Here is the miniest of mini-reviews. Just because.

When I wrote a review of WHITE CAT, the first book in this series, I was blown away by the concept of blowback--immediate, physical consequences of magic use.
 In RED GLOVE, I'm awed by how these characters and plot have been further developed by Holly Black. Brilliant comes to mind to describe this.
 How can I love Cassel so much despite his con games, despite his mob family, despite his lies? Because at heart he's trying so hard to be loyal and make the right decisions even in the face of deception, betrayal and threats from all sides--the kind of experiences that would make most of us hide under the covers and never come out. He keeps trying to fix the messes, and the author keeps digging him in deeper.
The end breaks my heart How's this for a line? "I can survive on memories..."