Here’s the blurb:
‘Peaky Blinders with swords’ (Barnes & Noble), perfect for fans of Mark Lawrence and Joe Abercrombie.
‘The poorer and more oppressed people are, the weaker they become – until they just refuse to take it any more. Then they will rise up, and the gods help their oppressors.’
When Tomas Piety and his Pious Men returned from the war, he just wanted to rebuild his crime empire and look after his people. But the sinister Queen’s Men had different ideas and whether he likes it or not, he’s now a spy as well.
Now, half the city of Ellinburg lies in ashes and the webs of political intrigue are stretching out from the Queen’s capital to pull Tomas in. Dannsburg is calling.
In Dannsburg the nobility fight with words, not blades, but the results are every bit as bloody. In this pit of beasts, Tomas must decide once and for all whether he is truly the people’s champion . . . or just a priest of lies.
And as Tomas’ power grows, the nobility had better watch their backs . . .”
Priest of Lies is an enjoyable book, and one that would perhaps have been more enjoyable if I’d read book 1 in the series (no shouting at me at this point. It is possible to start a series with Book 2 – I’ve done it quite a few times) but I’ve seen quite a bit of excitement for the book on Twitter, and it became a bit infectious, which is why I went straight into Book 2 when it became available on Netgalley (that, and Book 1 is £5.99 on kindle – I’d happily pay that for an author I love, but for a new author to me, I’m a bit hesitant.)
The writing is good, the character of Thomas Piety is bold and executed well, and yet for all that, I just didn’t quite enthuse over the story. The premise is both unusual and also quite predictable, and I always knew there was going to be a big showdown at the end, and there was, so I wasn’t disappointed in that.
There are a few story arcs that felt a bit too superfluous for my liking, and Thomas Piety has an annoying tendency of glossing over some details that I would have quite liked to be expanded upon and then going into detail regarding matters that I wasn’t interested in at all.
Overall, I enjoyed the story of Thomas Piety and I’m sure it will please fans of the series, but I just don’t think it’s my sort of thing! A firm 3/5. (I am a fan of Mark Lawrence, but not Pinky Blinders, or Joe Abercrombie.)
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my review copy.
Priest of Lies is released today, 2nd July, and is available from here;
MJ Porter 