Every so often I come across a story that just grips me from the moment I set my eyes of the cover. Honor is a noble virtue, but among thieves honor can get you killed. I then proceeded to read the back cover and I knew I was in for a treat with thieves, crime lords, political alliances, and powerful magic relics. This is Douglas Hulicks debut novel and I would definitely say that this is a book you will want to get your hands on one way or another.
Ildrecca is a dangerous city to the average person especially if you are travelling in places you shouldn’t be. Idrecca has a normal economy and structure but the criminal underworld is the real holder of power in this city and the powers that be will try every trick in the book to remove the beating heart from this criminal organization. We follow a single POV perspective named Drothe. Drothe has a wary eye for running the streets and surviving if things turn bad, which in his case is more often then not. Drothe gets by not with any magical ability of extreme smarts but with the knowledge of the criminals he is encountering, help from his friend Degan, and a lot of luck.
I shouldn’t say that Drothe has no skills, he does possesses an ancient skill where he can see in the dark but he doesn’t consider this skill to be anything special. Drothe has been a member of the kin for years and working for a crime lord he finds and deals with trouble inside the organization, while stealing relics on the side. On his many missions, he discovers that the people leaning on his crime bosses organization are involved in a much bigger mystery pertaining to the Gray Prince. Drothe eventually discovers an ancient relic that can bring down the emperors and the criminal underworld, but he will have to survive first as everybody is now out in Idrecca hunting for him.
What excited me most about reading Among Thieves was the world building Douglas Hulick has incorporated into a novel just over 400 pages in length. I always got the feeling of something creepy around every corner or new treasures to discover in that building and who was going to betray to crime bosses next. There is a lot of backstabbing in this novel with plenty of surprises along the way. Douglas Hulick has also written a very creative may to people in this world call thieves. Each thieves is called a nose and there are 3 different types of noses: Wide, Long, and Narrow. A wide nose you work on the street and sell the information you learn to those whom would pay handsomely for it. A Long nose keep their heads down and information close to the chest. They gain information by infiltrating crime lords organizations and become secret agents. Narrow noses investigate the crime lords organizations own people and stop problems before they become big ones and this is what Drothe is. Also, the character of Degan was brilliant in everyway. Bronze Degan is part of an arms organization that are considered to be the best fighters in the world. In order the get Degans help, Drothe must give him an Oath where they would be bound to each other until the oath has been repaid, a task for a task and there is no telling what the repayment Degan will ask for in return.
As you can probably tell from me rambling on that I had a blast with Among Thieves. It was fresh, tense, fast paced, and delivers on the promises the story demands of it. I hope you will give Douglas Hulick an chance to show you what the real life of a nose entails what you may have to throw away to achieve your goals.
Cheers!
Under The Radar SFF Books 