"Let's steal an election."

At least, that's how Nate Ford would say it. After the events of Red Seas Under Red Skies, Locke Lamora is dying from a unique alchemaic poison. The only cure comes with a heavy price, a job for the fearsome Bondsmages of Karthain, managing the election for their pet city. And to make things interesting, running the other side is Sabetha, Gentleman Bastard and the love of Locke's life. Expect high stakes, secrets to be revealed, and things to catch fire.

As usual, the story is balanced between the heist and the past, with Locke growing of age and staging his first caper as a travelling theater company. The plotting is a little more languid than the other books, but the characterizations is deeper. Locke and Sabetha have a really toxic love: passion, respect, and hidden knives all mixed up into a poisonous brew, and it somehow rings true to me. Real love is messy, real love is downright toxic sometimes, and Lynch is exactly right about the kinds of trouble clever boys can get themselves into putting exceptional women on pedestals. He also has some useful and hard earned wisdom about treating women, as you know, people, and listening to them. I tend to view almost any description of Sabetha from Locke's perspective as unreliable as all hell, but it comes out as realistic and satisfying in the end.

The Republic of Thieves is a fine step up from Red Seas Under Red Skies and has me waiting for the next installment.