“Last Violent Call” by Chloe Gong (“These Violent Delights”) is a two novella book set that takes place between her novels “Foul Lady Fortune” and “Foul Heart Huntsman,” which comes out on Sept. 26. The two novellas included in this set are “A Foul Thing” and “This Foul Murder.” 

A Foul Thing

This novella will take you by surprise. For starters, Roma and Juliette are alive. This novella takes place four years after the ending of “Our Violent End,” which was the ending of Gong’s first duology. She then wrote “Foul Lady Fortune” as a spin-off and “A Foul Thing” takes place right after the ending of that book.

Roma and Juliette are hiding in a small town with new names and are the heads of an underground weapons ring. A man named Yulan finds them and begs them to help him protect his fiancée because she is at risk of being kidnapped by a scientist that Roma used to know. 

At first, they say no, not wanting to blow their cover after four years of silence, but after Yulan calls them in a panic, they realize they cannot stay away this time. 

This novella is full of action and it is a nice surprise for the readers when Gong reveals how they survived the explosion. However, by making it so Roma and Juliette survive, it kind of takes away the significance of the ending of “Our Violent Ends.” It is supposed to be a “Romeo and Juliet” retelling, but by taking away their sacrifice, it makes the ending less meaningful.

However, this novella ends in a crazy way, connecting Roma and Juliette’s current life to the storyline of “Foul Lady Fortune.” It will be very exciting to see what Gong does in the finale of the series, “Foul Heart Huntsman.”

This Foul Murder

Benedikt and Marshall were always prominent characters in “These Violent Delights,” and they were favorites of readers, but we did not see as much of them as other characters. The ending of “Our Violent Ends” shows them moving to Russia together to start a new life.

This novella takes place immediately after “A Foul Thing.” Roma called Benedikt, who is his cousin, asking him to find their old scientist friend. Benedikt and Marshall are on the Trans-Siberian Express for seven days, when someone is murdered. 

They pretend to be private investigators to prevent the train from stopping, and delaying their mission. They spend the next seven days working tirelessly, trying to figure out who committed this murder and why.

This novella has a very light tone despite it being about a murder. It is nice to read about Benedikt and Marshall’s relationship without it being surrounded by a larger plot. 

Gong did an amazing job connecting these two novellas both together, and to her other two series. By giving her readers these two novellas that are mostly happy, she is giving them a break between the ending of “Foul Lady Fortune” and the finale “Foul Heart Huntsman.” 

Photo via Chloe Gong via thechloegong.com