Badlands is the seventh suspense novel in the series of books written about the Philadelphia Homicide Detective dual of Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano.  If one likes riddles and magic, this book will be a good read.  The story evolves around a troubled magician wannabe who is kidnapping runaways and using them to create his grand illusion:  The Seven Wonders of the World.  The premise is that "...organized games go back as far as language itself" and that "...the first IQ test was a puzzle:  The Riddle of the Sphinx." Reading this book I learned what tangrams were and got caught-up in trying to solve the diabolical puzzle created by the ominous, Mr. Ludo.   Once again Montanari draws his readers in by creating characters that are multidimensional and believable.  If one is a Montanari fan, this book will not disappoint: The Riddle of the Sphinx?  "What has four feet in the morning, two at noon, and three at night?"