jacey | Booklog 16/26: Scott Lynch: The Lies of Locke Lamora – Gentlemen Bastards #1

Audiobook narrated by Michael Page

This is a revisit of one of my favourite books via Audible. Set is a second-world in a city not unlike pre-industrial Venice with alchemy and one specific type of magic, the Gentlemen Bastards are thieves with a difference, and Locke Lamora, The Thorn of Camorr, is their leader. He’s got a devious mind and a talent for deception and false-facing. Unlike the other cutpurse gangs, the Gentlemen Bastards have been educated by (the late) Father Chains to be more ambitious, and to run elaborate cons. This they hide from Capa Barsavi, the city’s crime boss and their supposed overlord, but when the Grey King starts to murder Barsavi’s gang-leaders, Locke and his little gang are dropped in it up to their necks and beyond. While trying to run a con to part a wealthy Don from his money Locke gets involved in both sides of the Grey King’s plans, and the Grey King has a Bonds Mage at his beck and call, a man so powerful that he can kill with a thought. Caught between the Grey King and the city’s Spider (head of the Duke’s Midnighters) Locke and his gang are in big trouble. There are plenty of exciting twists, and Locke goes through the mill (several times). Michael Page reads this well enough, though I could have wished for a little more excitement in the voice, to match Locke’s mercurial personality.