A Prince Among Killers

After being harvested by the Stone and taken to the guild's stronghold (Triune), Aron Brailing has been training as an assassin's apprentice. The second half of the OATHBREAKER story starts out where the first left off; Aron has to face the horrors of the ruined keep and hope to make it back alive. In the midst of his training, war is breaking out among the dynasty lords and threatening to come right to the Stone Guild stronghold. The threat becomes real when enemies learn there is A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS. Aron has been forbidden to use his legacy upon pain of death, but if he doesn't use it, his friends might die. In addition to that impossible choice, Aron is faced with another when he draws his first stone. His choices may lead him down the path to becoming an Oathbreaker. As with ASSASIN'S APPRENTICE, the characters and world in A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS were compelling and thrilling. I enjoyed getting to know the characters further and the promise of exciting revelations kept me turning the pages. I loved reading A PRINCE AMONG KILLERS - I only wish it hadn't ended. Reviewed by: Joan Stradling

All right, the bad news: "A Prince Among Killers" is not as good as "Assassin's Apprentice," the first in this series. I had REALLY high expectations going into this one, though, so it would be tough to live up to them. The first book was, in my opinion, a masterpiece. The good news: "A Prince Among Killers," though not as good as "Assassin's Apprentice," it is still an enjoyable and worthwhile read. That being said, I feel this book could have been better. I felt like the authors rushed the first three-fourths of the book, up until about the last 100 pages or so. It failed to bring the characters to life as much as the first book. I felt like they were glossing over scenes, "telling" more than "showing," perhaps in an effort to get to the climactic end quicker? Sometimes, while in the head of a specific character, for instance, I was told that the character thinks another character is feeling a certain way. How would that character know that, though? I think it would have been better to simply play out the interaction more and let the reader come to his or her own conclusions. Another thing I missed: for some reason this book doesn't capture the same creepy vibe as the first one did in regards to the spirit world. The world also didn't breathe and live like it did for me in the first book. That opening scene from book 1 in which Aaron is on the farm with his father was so memorable: I still remember the dirt on his hands, and his discussion with his father. Great stuff! All my dislikes set aside, though: the last 100 pages of "A Prince Among Killers" do successfully redeem the authors' original storytelling style and bring together what they were attempting to do in the first 400 pages of this book while maintaining a much better pace of storytelling. I wasn't so disappointed with the first part of the book that I couldn't keep reading. Perhaps the book would have been better as a trilogy, though? Or, at least, having several of the earlier scenes expanded upon to provide more detail, setting description, and interaction between characters and the world? Another hundred pages or so of interaction to breathe life into the setting and characters would have done wonders. Anyway, I enjoyed this story from book one to the end. That being said, I hope the authors will continue to put out more works and, if they do, I will be sure to pick them up!