Review: THE THIEF WHO KNOCKED ON SORROW’S GATE by Michael McClung

Publisher: Self-Published
Page Count: 181
Release Date: December 10th, 2014
Series: AMRA THETYS, Book 3
Rating: 4/5 Stars – Really Liked It!

Warning: Potential very light spoilers for earlier books in the series. Haven’t read them yet? You can find reviews here: THE THIEF WHO PULLED ON TROUBLE’S BRAIDS, THE THIEF WHO SPAT IN LUCK’S GOOD EYE

Amra Thetys has been enjoying a life of semi-retirement, but that all comes to an end when a gruesome package arrives from an unknown sender. Convinced it’s a message from an old friend in her hometown, Amra sets out to the city of Bellarius. It soon becomes clear multiple people have taken an interest in Amra’s return, and some of them would rather have her dead then become involved in their affairs. At the heart of it all is the mystery surrounding tragic events in Amra’s childhood, days she would rather not think about again.

THE THIEF WHO KNOCKED ON SORROW’S GATE is a fantastic entry in the AMRA THETYS series and an action-packed adventure from start to finish. I admit, I was a little wary going into SORROW’S GATE as book two in the series, THE THIEF WHO SPAT IN LUCK’S GOOD EYE, was a bit of a stumble for me. While I still enjoyed it, that book felt a bit unfocused and uneven in places. But with some reassurances from a friend that LUCK’S GOOD EYE was an outlier, I picked up book three. Happily, it was fully worth continuing the series!

SORROW’S GATE starts things off with a severed head in a box and only escalates from there. This entry in Amra’s life forces her to return to her roots and confront dark events that happened to her in her past. It’s a glimpse into Amra’s origins that is informative, even if it isn’t pretty.

But most importantly, THE THIEF WHO KNOCKED ON SORROW’S GATE returns Amra to being a bit of a detective. Over the course of the book, she has to determine who sent her a severed head, where a childhood friend is in town, who is trying to kill her, and several other mysteries that reveal themselves as Amra investigates. Amra is in her element in cities, where she has to interact with others and use her knowledge and contacts to track down people and information, making the events of SORROW’S GATE perfectly suited to her talents. Shout outs as well to new character Keel, an unfortunate young man who gets swept up in Amra’s situation and soon finds himself way over his head.

Of course, it wouldn’t be an Amra Thetys book if gods and other supernatural beings weren’t around to mess with her life. There’s a new cast of strange entities for Amra to deal with as she gets dragged into their affairs. Although by this point, Amra may have to contend with the fact that being in the middle of the affairs of gods was her fate from the day she was born. Either way, the magic and action is explosive, literally and figuratively.

And then there’s the ending. And man is it an ending. I’ll warn you now, it is definitely a cliffhanger, though lucky for those of you reading it now, the next book in the series is already out! The set-up for the next book has me itching to pick it up ASAP, especially when a glance at the synopsis confirmed a suspicion of where the story was going.

The AMRA THETYS books are quick adventures easily read in a few days. If an urban fantasy with swords and flintlocks and adversaries ranging from crime bosses to gods sounds like your cup of tea, then you have to jump into this series!