The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora is a heist story featuring one of the best friendships I’ve ever read. While I was expecting an epic-fantasy and the magic is actually rather low and not even present in the beginning, I would have rated it 5 stars even if there wasn’t any kind of magic. The dynamics between the characters and their mind-blowing tricks are more than enough to keep me in awe.


The story follows the life of Locke Lamora and his four friends, who serve The Nameless Thirteen, God of thieves and malefactors, doing what they are best at: stealing and lying. They have been pretending to be low-key thieves for years while in reality they are the minds behind the greatest robberies in Camorr. Until someone discovers them, and things start to get messy.


“() I told him that if I could stay here until he delivered me here after Falselight, there’d be eight solons for him.”
“Eight? The cheeky bastard just asked for ten, and got eleven.”
“Yeah, well, that’s okay.I got bored sitting around the cask yard so I lifted his purse. Had about two solons worth of copper in it.”



If you look in the dictionary for the word friendship, this book should appear in the definition. I think there are too many books boasting about great friendships, when in reality it is hard to find one that shows the endless loyalty and strength between authentic friends. I don’t have words to express it, but the author managed to show it through words, actions and pain.


I always find it hard to find the right balance between characters and action at the beginning of a fantasy book. Scott Lynch solved this problem using flashbacks through all the story, that not only slowed down the pace so you could root for the characters, but they were masterfully connected with the scenes in the present. Reading The Lies of Locke Lamora was like seeing the pieces of a intrincated puzzle coming together one by one, until they finally fuse with a brilliant last trick.


“I’ve got kids that enjoy stealing. I’ve got kids that don’t think about stealing one way or another, I’ve got kids who tolerate stealing because they know they’ve nothing else to do. But nobody, and I mean nobody, has ever been hungry for it like this boy. If he had a bloody gash across his throat and a physiker was trying to sew it, Lamora would steal the needle and thread and die laughing. He… steals too much.”


Besides his skillful storytelling, Scott Lynch has also an incredible talent to create exciting dialogues that were realistic, cunning and fun at the same time. I was so in love with the characters that it didn’t matter if they were side characters I’d known for a couple of scenes, I didn’t want anyone to die. It just felt wrong to kill characters so well made that everything, from the way they thought to the way they acted, screamed real, unique, human.


“You poor, sweet idiot. You do have it bad for her. Well, what can I say, Locke? You are fucked.” Felice laughed softly. “Just not by me.”


Overall, if you are looking for a mindblowing magic system, action-packed and high fantasy story this is not the book for you. But if you are like me and love a character driven story about a group of friends who fool everyone around them and the best heist story you’ll ever find, The Lies of Locke Lamore is the perfect choice.


“It’s perfect! Locke would appreciate it.”
“Bug,” Calo said, “Locke is our brother and our love for him has no bounds. But the most four fatal words in the Therin language are ‘Locke would appreciate it.’”
“Rivalled only by ‘Locked taught me a new trick,’” added Galdo.