The Lies of Locke Lamora

Title: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Author: Scott Lynch

Publisher: Bantam Books (2006)

Genre(s): Fiction, Fantasy, Adventure

Length: 499 pages

Synopsis:  Locke Lamora is very clever.  Even as a child, orphaned and taken in by one of Camorr's gang-masters, he was outwitting both his peers and his masters and getting himself into trouble in the process.  When he finds himself under the tutelage of Father Chains, a con man with a group of elite young thieves as his students, he finally finds an outlet for his quick wit and silver tongue.  Before long, he's risen to the rank of garrista, leader of his own little gang of thieves, the Gentlemen Bastards.  But Camorr is a dangerous city, even for the cleverest thieves, especially now that the mysterious Gray King seems to be targeting just such men.  As much as he's learned and as skilled as he's become, Locke Lamora still has a tendency to forget one thing: sometimes, he's just too clever for his own good...

 

My Rating: 5 Stars

My Opinion:  Ladies and gentlemen, put down whatever you're reading and go find this book.  Sometimes I wonder whether a book is really worth the 5 star rating I'm giving it... I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt if I can't pinpoint something wrong with it...after all, I have my personal tastes, and I don't expect every book to cater to them.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this book.  It has earned every one of its five stars several times over.  The characters are charming, with their own preoccupations, skills, and flaws.  The setting is fascinating; there's a sense that, descriptive as Lynch is, he's barely scratched the surface of the world he's created.  It's a certainly a gritty place; the language might make the most verbose sailor blush, but it feels right for these people and this place.  Lynch pulls no punches.  His writing sweeps the reader along, through comedy and tragedy, tenderness and violence.  Cliched though it may be, I laughed, I cried, and read faster and faster, anxious to find out what would happen.  I will definitely be picking up another tale of the Gentlemen Bastards; the sequel, Red Seas Under Red Skies, was published in 2008, and the next book, The Republic of Thieves, is due out in October of this year.  I highly recommend this book.  It is, by far, one of the best books I've read in quite some time, and for a book reviewer, that's saying something.