Review: The Lies of Lock Lamora

Slick, Stylish & Fun!

The Thorn of Camorr is said to be an unbeatable swordsman, a master thief, a ghost that walks through walls. Half the city believes him to be a legendary champion of the poor. The other half believe him to be a foolish myth. Nobody has it quite right.

Slightly built, unlucky in love, and barely competent with a sword, Locke Lamora is, much to his annoyance, the fabled Thorn. He certainly didn't invite the rumors that swirl around his exploits, which are actually confidence games of the most intricate sort. And while Locke does indeed steal from the rich, the poor never see a penny of it. All of Locke's gains are strictly for himself and his tight-knit band of thieves, the Gentlemen Bastards.

Locke and company are con artists in an age where con artistry, as we understand it, is a new and unknown style of crime. The less attention anyone pays to them, the better! But a deadly mystery has begun to haunt the ancient city of Camorr, and a clandestine war is threatening to tear the city's underworld, the only home the Gentlemen Bastards have ever known, to bloody shreds. Caught up in a murderous game, Locke and his friends will find both their loyalty and their ingenuity tested to the breaking point as they struggle to stay alive...

Obviously I am later than anybody jumping on the Lock Lamora bandwagon. Super hyped in 2006 / 2007, but I managed to ignore it – for some reasons the jacket description and the setting didn’t really appeal to me. So I had this one sitting on a book shelve for almost two years and I gave it a try because I just finished The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney and I wanted something less military and less bloody. It was certainly less military...

The Lies of Lock Lamora brought me back to childhood memories of when I first consciously started enjoying being absorbed by a good book. I remember reading (too) late in bed with a little light on and being transported with a fantastic adventure to a make believe world. This is exactly what ‘Lies’ did. (Even though the content is definitely not for children – there’s a lot of violence and strong language.) This book is just plain old fun!

The plot is nothing too complicated. The story is situated in Camorr; a city state reminiscent of Venice with a renaissance / gothic vibe with hints to be a much bigger world. Very well done! Minor criticism: the book could have used a map. (But hey: there’s internet, so a map is easily found). The book jumps back and forth between present and past. The flashbacks (called interludes) are short enough not to distract from the main story and important enough to be interesting. Alternating between past and present is a tricky thing to do but Scott Lynch did it just right.

The story starts as a caper-tale full of scheming, planning and thieving and turns about halfway in a pretty violent and bloody tale of war and revenge. As I said: nothing to complicated – but he overall ‘vibe’ of this book is what makes it special. This is an old fashioned adventure full of twists and shocks, with interesting characters in a beautifully realized world that draws you right in. A book that makes you think about how it will continue during the day, during work or under the shower or other mundane activities has to be fantastic! Another sign this was an truly excellent book is that I really did not want it to finish…

What also made this book stand out over others was Lynch’s flair for language; his descriptions are imaginative, lyrical and vivid, and the dialogue is witty to the extreme. I really liked the eloquence; the way people talk in this book – something that may not seem realistic when you look at our own world, but which was perfectly acceptable for me as the way of conversation in Camorr and which adds a lot of humor to the story.

The Lies of Lock Lamora goes (close) to the top of my all time favorite list and I will start reading the sequel right away even though I had planned to start another book. That says it all!

Conclusion: strongly recommended for everybody who like a good old fashioned adventure story in a fantastical setting. Slick, stylish & fun!

9 / 10