Review – Priest of Bones by Peter McLean @PeteMC666 @AceRocBooks

Posted January 30, 2019 by Carole in Book Reviews / 14 Comments

Priest of Bones by Peter McLean
Series: War for the Rose Throne #1
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group – Ace
Publication Date: October 2, 2018
Date Read: January 24, 2019
Length: 352 pages
Source: First to Read / Library
★★★★★

It’s a dangerous thing, to choose the lesser of two evils.

The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety finally heads home with Lieutenant Bloody Anne at his side. When he arrives in the Stink, Tomas finds that his empire of crime has been stolen from him while at war. With his gang of Pious Men, Tomas will do whatever it takes to reclaim his businesses. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, and is forced to work in secret for the sinister Queen’s Men, everything gets more complicated.

When loyalties stretch to the breaking point and violence only leads to violence, when people have run out of food, and hope, and places to hide, do not be surprised if they have also run out of mercy. As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the backstreet taverns and gambling dens of Tomas’s old life it becomes clear; the war is not over.

It is only just beginning.

My Review

I absolutely loved this book.  This was one of those books that I was able to lose myself in for just a little while.  This book first fell on my radar when it was listed on First to Read.  I signed up for a copy but let it expire before I got around to reading it.  As luck would have it, my local library had a copy and I was able to give it a try.  Let me tell you, I should have read this book as soon as I had a chance because it was fabulous!

This was a fantasy that I found very easy to slip into its world.  It is a rather dark story and you can expect to see a fair amount of blood and violence.  I was hooked by this story pretty much right away.  The story follows Tomas Piety who happens to be an army priest.  The war is over and his group of soldiers that have looked to him for leadership still wish to follow his lead.  The group goes back to his home known as the Stink where Tomas plans to put everyone to work in his businesses.  When he arrives home, he finds that all of his businesses have been taken over by others and he will have to fight to get them back.

I liked Tomas right away and the more I read, the more I liked him.  When necessary, he delivers swift justice but overall he is a fair leader.  He is incredibly smart and is a natural leader that seems to know exactly which job would be the right fit for all of his men.  He inspires complete loyalty from his men which he returns in full.  Tomas is put in a position where he not only needs to reclaim his territory but must also work with a powerful group to help prevent another war.  It is a delicate balancing act that he is able to maneuver with finesse.

I thought this book was really exciting.  There is plenty of action to keep the pages turning but I found the strategizing to be equally entertaining.  The entire book was really well paced.  The characters were very well developed and I not only liked Tomas but also really grew to care for the other members of his crew.  There were a few magical elements that I found really well done as well. 

I would highly recommend this book to fans of darker fantasies.  I was totally drawn into this wonderful story that I found almost impossible to set aside.  I cannot wait to read the next book in the series!

I received a digital review copy of this book from Penguin Publishing Group via First to Read and borrowed a print copy of the book from my local library.

About the Author

Peter McLean lives in the UK, where he studies martial arts and magic, and volunteers at a prison, teaching creative writing. He is the author of the Burned Man urban fantasy series.

Author Links: Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter

14 responses to “Review – Priest of Bones by Peter McLean @PeteMC666 @AceRocBooks

  1. I like the cover for this book. Fantasy is a genre I rarely read-the size of some of the books intimidate me but I do have a handful to try! Sounds like a good MC in this one.

  2. I've been hesitant to pick this one up because it sounded like epic fantasy and I don't read a lot of that – well, I'm trying to read more. Glad you enjoy it. The cover has always ben stunning to me.

  3. Great review. It's awesome when you find a book you really enjoy. How much of a religious aspect is there? That would be my only holdback. Anne – Books of My Heart

  4. I like fantasies that are easy to get into since I'm not a big fantasy reader. I'll probably consider this at some point 🙂

  5. I love the sound of this one. I love my grim and dark fantasy worlds and then the main character sounds like he is someone who is all about crime and sometimes I love rooting for those grey moral area characters. I just… it sounds so perfect for me. Going to look into this one on Goodreads!