Scan barcode
A review by annelyle
City of Lies by Sam Hawke
4.0
A highly enjoyable tale of political intrigue in a non-Western setting, City of Lies starts fairly slow and quiet, but builds up to a tense, action-packed climax. However if you're expecting assassins, gruesome murders, and protagonists who lean towards the dark side, you're going to be disappointed - Jovan and Kalina are decent people, brought up in a city that prides itself on its peaceful, civilised culture, and thus totally unprepared for the Machiavellian machinations of their city's enemies. It's thus easy to be a bit irritated with them at first, but watching them rise above their pampered lifestyles to become true heroes is ultimately satisfying.
My one gripe was that the book has two 1st-person PoVs, and at first I easily got confused as to which character I was following. Perhaps if the two characters had been in very different situations, or had very distinct voices, it wouldn't have been a problem, but since they are a close-knit brother and sister in the same city, interacting with the same small set of non-PoVs, I found them hard to tell apart at times. A minor niggle, though - I just had to learn to read the chapter headings :)
My one gripe was that the book has two 1st-person PoVs, and at first I easily got confused as to which character I was following. Perhaps if the two characters had been in very different situations, or had very distinct voices, it wouldn't have been a problem, but since they are a close-knit brother and sister in the same city, interacting with the same small set of non-PoVs, I found them hard to tell apart at times. A minor niggle, though - I just had to learn to read the chapter headings :)