Review Spot - The Lies of Locke Lamora

I have an addiction. I have had it for most of my life and it is not abating.  I am addicted to buying secondhand books from charity shops.

I read voraciously and, I would say, pretty quickly but I buy books at a rate that far outstrips my reading speed. This leads to a situation where a book I have picked up sits unread on my bookshelf for sometime.  There is always a book that is newer, or more exciting (or even just at the front of the shelf) that means certain tomes remain abandoned at the back of my shelf.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch has been one such book for a couple of years.  It was a bulky paperback version - you know, the ones that are somewhere between the size of a paperback and a hardback and as such not as easy to handle as a standard paperback.  I would definitely get to it, I just didn't know when.  Well I have just read it (after buying a kindle version after a recommendation from my mate Ben).  It is really rather good.

I'll start by stating the obvious - the book is a fantasy novel, but please do not let that put you off, it is as far from Dungeons and Dragons as you can hope to get and remain fantasy.  Think of it more like a heist- adventure set in a Renaissance-Venice-like city.

We follow a gang of thieves called the Gentlemen Bastards who, along with countless other gangs, make a living thieving in the canal city of Camorr. The city's underworld is led by the godfather-like Capa Barsavi who has agreed with the nobility a "Secret Peace" whereby the thieves of Camorr will not rob the nobility, rather praying on the merchants and poor of the city.  To all appearances the Gentlemen Bastards abide by this rule, whilst actually preying on the rich with complex confidence games.  The eponymous Locke Lamora leads the Gentlemen Bastards.

The book follows the adult Lamora's latest complex con alongside the arrival in Camorr of a rival for Capa Barsavi's power. Things quickly get complicated for Locke as he is dragged into the plans of both players.

I can't say much else without giving too much away, but I can say that I raced through the book and often wore a grin whilst doing so.  The story is very fast paced with some great cliffhangers and entertaining glimpses into the childhoods of the Gentlemen Bastards.

This book is number one of seven (the third of which is due out later this year) but definitely stands alone as a novel in it's own right.

I definitely recommend.