Gold, Lock and Key is the first in a series of grimdark retellings of classic fairytales. The premise itself is great, as the original tales these stories are going to be based off tended to be quite dark, before being tailored to a younger, modern audience. 

With this one, Doble takes the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears and puts his spin on things. We follow Goldie, who is a bounty hunter of sorts, living in a grim, harsh world. Offered a ton of coin, she is told that the money will be hers if she manages to take out 3 shapeshifting bears. 

At only 86 pages, Doble manages to pack his usual punch in such a short amount of time. I usually struggle with short stories and novellas (honestly not sure which of the two categories this one fits into)  largely due to feeling that the authors try and do too much, leaving aspects of the story undeveloped. That is not the case here; straight forward and hard hitting is the name of the game. One thing I loved about the Crescent Moon (also by Doble) and loved about this one too is the choices he made regarding characterization. He keeps the casts small, allowing him to write interesting characters with satisfying arcs. 

As usual, the prose shines. This is unsurprising, as everything I have read by this author has been written in a style that I love.

This is a tale of betrayal and it is packed with action. Really my only complaint was that there was a random deus ex machina moment, and I am never a fan of those; albeit, this is just a minor complaint. 

The ending paints a great picture of where the story is going, and I am excited for whatever is next.