Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Die Lügen des Locke Lamora: Roman

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Die Lügen des Locke Lamora: Roman by Scott Lynch

39 reviews

orionmerlin's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Oh, Lies of Locke Lamora, you chaotic little bastard of a book. You lured me in with promises of a slick, clever heist, and then blindsided me with a full-course meal of torture, maiming, and casual murder. Somewhere between the Ocean’s Eleven vibes and the “let’s remove this guy’s fingers one by one” energy, I had to ask myself: Am I enjoying this? The answer? Mostly.

📌 Characters - 8/10

Locke Lamora is an arrogant, overconfident con artist with a talent for thinking on his feet—and a terrible survival instinct. His best friend and right-hand man, Jean Tannen, is the brains and brawn that holds the entire operation together, delivering some of the book’s most satisfying moments (and best beatdowns). Their ride-or-die friendship is easily the strongest relationship in the book.

But the supporting cast? A mixed bag. The Sanza twins are entertaining but underdeveloped, Bug is mostly there to die tragically, and Capa Barsavi is a textbook example of a man who thinks he's in control when he absolutely isn’t. The Grey King and the Falconer make for decent villains, but their motivations are just functional—they work for the plot, but they don’t feel particularly deep.

And then there’s the glaring gender imbalance. Nazca Barsavi, the one woman who seems like she’ll play a major role, is killed off before she even gets a chance to be interesting. Vorchenza, the aging spymaster, is a great late-game addition, but she only enters the story near the end. And Sabetha? She’s referenced endlessly as Locke’s biggest regret, but she never appears, making her feel more like a plot device than a person.

📌 Atmosphere/Setting - 9/10

Camorr is Venetian fantasy meets brutal crime syndicate, dripping with grime, danger, and Elderglass towers that gleam like ancient relics of a long-dead civilization. The city breathes. From the floating black market of the Night Market to the shark-infested waters where debts are settled, Camorr feels alive in a way that many fantasy settings struggle to achieve.

That being said, Lynch sometimes falls into the Tolkien trap of describing everything in excruciating detail. The canals? Filthy. The nobles? Ridiculous. The torture? More detailed than it needed to be. At times, I felt like I was reading a guidebook instead of a novel.

📌 Writing Style - 8/10

Lynch’s prose is fast, witty, and loaded with personality—when it isn’t getting bogged down by its own indulgence. The dialogue crackles, and the humor genuinely lands, which is impressive given how dark the book gets.

But the structure? A bit of a mess. The book constantly jumps between Locke’s past (flashbacks with Father Chains and the early days of the Gentleman Bastards) and the present-day heist. Sometimes, this adds depth. Other times, it kills momentum right when things get interesting.

Also, every single plan Locke makes goes off without a hitch… until it suddenly explodes in the most catastrophic way possible. There’s no in-between.

📌 Plot - 7/10

The first half of the book delivers exactly what was promised: a high-stakes, well-crafted heist. Locke and his crew are conning Don Lorenzo Salvara and his wife Doña Sofia, posing as foreign merchants while stealing everything they can. It’s smart, it’s engaging, and it’s exactly what I wanted.

And then the Grey King shows up, and suddenly it’s less about a heist and more about Locke and Jean trying to survive a city-wide bloodbath.

Don’t get me wrong—the stakes escalate beautifully. But the shift from elaborate con artistry to full-scale revenge thriller is jarring. We go from charming deception to graphic torture scenes, and while that can work, the transition is too abrupt.

📌 Intrigue - 8/10

Even with the pacing issues, this book is incredibly engaging. I wanted to see how Locke would weasel his way out of certain death this time. The elaborate scams, the double-crosses, and the sheer audacity of the Gentleman Bastards kept me hooked.

That being said, the torture scenes killed my momentum. They’re long, brutal, and relentless, and they don’t add much beyond shock value. There were moments where I actively needed to put the book down.

📌 Logic/Relationships - 5.5/10

Locke’s scams are clever, but are they believable? Not really. He and his teenage friends are somehow running elite-level cons on the most powerful people in Camorr—and getting away with it. The idea that no one has caught onto them before now stretches credibility.

Also, the worldbuilding is excellent, but the gender imbalance is impossible to ignore. The lack of women is especially frustrating because the world itself doesn’t seem to have any built-in sexism. There’s no reason why there shouldn’t be more women in the underworld, but for some reason, there just… aren’t.

📌 Enjoyment - 7.5/10

There’s a lot to love here, but also a lot that wore me down. The heists? Fantastic. The cons? Brilliant. The action? Tense and well-paced. But the sheer brutality of the violence and the abrupt tonal shifts made this a more exhausting read than I expected.

I had fun, but I also needed a break.

📌 Final Verdict: 3.75 Stars (7.5/10 Final Score)

Is it a fun, immersive fantasy heist? Yes. Is it also way too violent for its own good? Also yes.

📌 What Worked:
✅ Fantastic setting & worldbuilding
✅ Clever cons & strong banter
✅ Locke & Jean’s dynamic was fun

📌 What Didn’t Work:
❌ Pacing whiplash (from fun heist to full horror movie)
❌ Over-the-top gore & torture scenes
❌ Glaring lack of gender diversity

🔥 Final Take: If you love elaborate heists, fast-talking criminals, and don’t mind extreme violence, you’ll probably enjoy this. If you prefer a bit more balance, chaos, and female characters that exist, you might find it frustrating. Still a solid read, but not without issues.

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arcticjinx's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This is my favorite book. That said, I can't stand here and tell you it is flawless. As some other reviews have stated, there is a distinct lack of characters that are both women and are either alive or have any agency, despite the author making it clear that the devilish underground of Camorr is very evenly split among genders. The main cast is loveable, and in my opinion, believably flawed. I won't say their luck isn't a bit unbelievable, but I suppose that when you have the god of thieves on your side, anything is possible. I would recommend this to people who enjoy worldbuilding, lengthy descriptions of clothing, heists, being sad, alchemy, and a sprinkle of magic.

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breezer's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Surprisingly heartbreaking

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silentquercus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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gisl's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is both incredible and incredibly difficult. I remember thinking at one point that I was nearing the end of the book because the stakes were so high, it must be about to wrap up! Wasn’t even halfway. The stakes just kept getting higher and the situation kept getting more dire. I almost couldn’t finish it I was so tense and scared. Overall very good read. My only gripe is the villains were built up so incredibly, and the protagonists were shown so out of their depth, and then the plot wrapped up way too quickly and easily. I feel like the

Falcon would’ve had the anti-attack spell on himself that he was said to have had earlier so Locke couldn’t get the jump on him. I feel like the Spider wouldn’t one-on-one confront a healthy young man as an old lady and taunt him by waving the real antidote he needs without guards in the room, and not expect Locke to do what he did and just punch her, steal the potion, and escape. And I feel like the clever Grey King who escaped and waited and plotted over 20 years to avenge half of his family wouldn’t simply accept defeat and wait for the Gentleman Bastards to kill him; He would escape and plot however long he needs to in order to avenge his sisters

. My only problem is the author made the antagonists too smart for them to be defeated in a single book, but even with that this is an amazing book. The way the timelines were written was incredible. I’m not going to continue bc this is too long already but great book!

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earthnsky's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

What a fun, imaginative fantasy series!

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jadejoro's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Absolute masterpiece of a book.

Three things to note:
1) This book is for adults. Every character, especially the lead, is a morally gray bundle of trauma and issues. If you need a relatively good guy to cheer for in order to enjoy a book, you will not find one here. Also, pretty much every adult content warning applies. (see below)
2) It's long. And I don't just mean word count (although yes, that's high). Part of Locke's survival skills is his ability to notice *everything*, so you as the reader will also be noticing everything. I personally found this abundance of details delightful, mainly because of Lynch's wonderful use of language. If you allow yourself to sink into the story, the slow pacing and highly descriptive language will leave you as familiar with Camorr as Locke himself by the end of the book.
3) As said above, it's slow. Lynch let's his characters tell the story, and a lot of them are no hurry whatsoever. You'll jump from the present to the childhoods of more than one character, learning about religion, politics, and history alongside our thieves in training. Slow though they be, not a single one of these side stories is a waste; in fact, several of them directly inform the present day story in the chapter immediately preceding or following it.

As for the actual plot of the book, I think the back cover blurb does the complex story few favors. Generally speaking, we have a group of thieves who steal mostly for the joy of it. They solely target the uber rich, breaking the "Secret Peace" maintained by Camorr's organized crime system. This makes Locke and his gang targets on all fronts -- the duke's Spider wants him caught, and the lower city's Capa would happily skin them alive if he knew what the Gentleman Bastards were up to. Despite the danger, Locke and his gang love their lifestyle. So, when a masked usurper puts both their lives and their livelihoods in danger, the Gentleman Bastards find themselves in a convoluted plot that mixes politics, revenge, pride, and greed.

I highly recommend this suave, riveting low fantasy adventure to anyone with the time and energy needed to appreciate it.

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