Fantasy | 530 pages | First published: February 1st, 2017

I absolutely loved this. Faint of heart be warned, it is rich with profanities, but with the series titled Gentleman Bastard…that should really be expected.

The Lies of Locke Lamora introduces us to an incredibly loveable band of thieves – the aforementioned Gentlemen Bastards. Their humour is dry and witty, which had me actually laughing out loud, and their camaraderie is genuine and heartwarming. I loved the eerie, atmospheric backdrop of Camorr that was highly reminiscent of Renaissance Italy, but with a touch of otherworldliness in a previous race that no one remembers.

My only “gripe” with this book would be the mysterious, oft-mentioned-but-never-actually-seen female love interest of the main male protagonist – Locke – that he’s still pining after years later. Given that this is the first in the series, I’ll hold my judgement that her character is going to be explored further in the next installment. All in all, it’s a small annoyance compared to how much I loved this book. Especially in having an average main character who depends on wheedling himself out of sticky situations by outsmarting his opponent.

Last warnings: There is a scene with spider-like creatures that gave me *actual* nightmares, and while I mention that I love the humour in this book…Lynch doesn’t hesitate to create very real consequences for our characters that definitely brought me to tears.