Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora

Let me begin by saying that I loved this book: it's a daring, well-written story set in a fantastically detailed world. _The Lies of Locke Lamora_ tells the story of a master thief and his life in a fantasy world of ancient magic and secret intrigue. With the help of his loyal thieves band, the Gentleman Bastards, Locke Lamora accomplishes daring raids on the nobility of the city-state Camorr, and avoids the notice of the powerful thief-king, Capa Barsavi. However, a bloody coup leads him down the path of revenge, and to save Camorr he may have to work with the very people he has spent his life robbing,

The characters are believable and the story is so gripping I ignored three other books I was reading to finish it. It's like _The Thief Lord_ on steroids. However, if you are considering giving this book to a person under the age of 15 or 16, I would definitely peruse it first. It is a realistic book dealing chiefly with criminals. Criminals swear profusely, murder, poison, torture, and abuse, and most of these things are dealt with in the book. If you are offended by swearing, especially, I would only cautiously recommend this book. For me, it added tremendously to the realism of the world, but less hardened readers might be disappointed. In short, this is the best book I have read in months, and we can clearly expect great things from Scott Lynch in the future.

_Dylan Skerbitz is a 16-year-old homeschooler who lives in St. Paul. He enjoys reading and surfing the Internet._