Jacey Bedford's Journal

Tomas Piety, recently made a priest, returns from the war with his war-damaged brother, Jochan, and the few surviving members of his squad, hoping to return to his old life as a gang boss of the Pious Men who rule the area known as the Stink in Ellinburg. But all is not is as he left it. Foreign infiltrators have moved in and Tomas, his second, Bloody Anne, Jochan and the rest of the gang have to fight for every inch of territory, every brothel, every gambling den in a battle which becomes more and more political. Despite this being a high body-count book and despite Tomas professing that he doesn’t care about people, the characters manage to be way more sympathetic than you might expect. When Tomas runs a protection racket, he follows through with the protection. His customers get what they pay for. His people of the Stink are HIS people and he’s going to make sure they have what they need. If the foreign infiltrators are threatening his city, he’s going to have to do something about that, aided and abetted by the new barmaid, who has connections to the fearsome Queen’s Men. I read this because of a Goodreads review, and I’m so glad I did. I found it thoroughly engrossing. Highly recommended.