Synopsis
Gangster, soldier, priest. Queen’s Man. Governor.
Tomas Piety has everything he ever wanted. In public he’s a wealthy, highly respected businessman, happily married to a beautiful woman and Governor of his home city of Ellinburg. In private, he’s no longer a gang lord but one of the Queen’s Men, invisible and officially non-existent, working in secret to protect his country.
But when the queen’s sudden death sees him summoned him back to the capital, he discovers his boss, Dieter Vogel, Provost Marshal of the Queen’s Men, is busy tightening his stranglehold on the country.
Just as he once fought for his Pious Men, he must now bend all his wit and hard-won wisdom to protect his queen – but now he can’t always tell if he’s on the right side.
Tomas has started to ask himself, what is the price of power? And more importantly, is it one he is willing to pay?
Review
“People may revere the idea of heroic veterans, but they very seldom have the time or the charity for the broken, battle-shocked men and women that are the reality of what war produces. I had seen too many heroes starve and freeze to death in doorways to think otherwise.”
Yes I’m neck deep in this series. And I am loving it. Priest of gallows (what a title btw!) was even better than book 1 and 2 put together. If I had mentioned that book 2 involves a lot of politicking and I loved that, I don’t even know what to say about book 3. It moves even higher up in terms of political intrigue and the plot. Book 2 was a lot more about Tomas’s character growth and establishing the city and high society of Dannsburg. Now that that was settled we are truly starting to see where the series is going and I cannot wait for all the explosiveness of the finale in book 4. As it has been with book 1 and book 2 reviews before, I’m already 50 pages into book 4 at the time of writing book 3 review.
And I honestly think that’s the best way to review this series- It is unputdownable and I keep wanting more of it. Somehow McLean’s writing has that perfect finesse where I am able to fly through the pages while also being engrossed in the MC’s character growth and the intricacies of the royal society. This series is honestly just going from strength to strength (my ratings, book 1 – 4 stars, book 2 – 4.5 stars, book 3 – 5 stars.) I was used to explosive climaxes in the previous books but in this one, it opens with a bang. And never lets go. Without spoiling anything, it gets so much more real and so much more dark. He’s reaching Fonda Lee’s (who I consider the pinnacle in writing about horrible people who I can’t stop reading about) levels of mastery in craft.
“The truth is so easily drowned by the words of the majority that it counts for little, in my experience.”
Once again I can’t really talk about the plot as this is the third installment in the series but I will say that this book is different from the previous two starkly. It’s not pivoting to a different direction but it is expanding so massively in scope that just the sheer breadth of it is making it appear so different from what it set out to do. Now while the scope and the politics are expanding massively, the genius of it is that it’s all being layered in so subtly and simply that even people who aren’t inclined in politics and society will not be able to ignore the hypocrisy of power structures or not recognize the parallels between some government actions and the way a mafia gang/mob handles its business. The way the book covertly calls back to some of the gangster actions from previous books to call out the bigger national level politicking in this book is delicious. And in another way, this book is actually cathartic to the world events in 2026. It’s sad but those are the times we live in.
“You have to understand, Tomas, that those most prone to misinformation are those most inclined to want to believe it. They want someone to blame. Nobody likes accidents, or illnesses. There’s no revenge to be taken for an accident, for a sickness. Give them this much…”
Conclusion- I loved this book and I have enormous expectations for book 4 from McLean. I also have full confidence that he’ll deliver.
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