Neil McGarry

After growing up in hiding, a letter with a peculiar talisman changes everything for a young baker's girl named Duchess, and leads her into a dangerous world of thievery and intrigue, where the only thing she has at stake is her place in the world. And the truth about that terrible childhood night in which she lost everything.

Duchess of the Shallows is a deceptively simple book, but rich in details. The plot revolves around Duchess, once the youngest child of a wealthy family, but now living in secret, disguised as the daughter of a baker after the horrifying death of her father and family. The story is driven by a single heist mission in which Duchess, assisted by her street-friend, Lysander, must pull off an impossible robbery in order to gain Duchess admission to the secret world of thieves.

But despite the simplicity of the plot, the world woven around Duchess, and the characters that inhabit her world with her, are anything but simple. Political maneuvring between different factions of society, and the power-players calling the shots, all serve to create a textured backdrop, giving the story depth and appeal. While I found the exposition a bit heavy in one or two places, the characters soon had me rooting for them, and I was carried along quite happily, all the way to the end.

I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more story after the heist. In a way, it felt like one long, drawn out act, rather than the three-act pulse of most modern fantasy, but it definitely left me liking the characters and wanting to hear more.… (más)

Having recently been accepted into a secret fraternity of thieves, Duchess must now learn the ropes quickly, to fend off several rivals who have already moved against her. But as she sets the wheels of her vengeance in motion, Duchess discovers plots within plots and is forced to confront a disturbing possibility: is she turning those wheels? Or are the wheels turning her?

Every bit as enjoyable as the first one. The authors have found an interesting structure. Rather than lead their protagonist through a series of problems in the usual way - one after the other - they opt instead to give Duchess half a dozen problems all at once. Then they sit back and watch as she tries to untangle them all without hanging herself in the process. The result is surprisingly engaging, but with a different feel from most plot-driven rogue stories. This structure allows for a greater sense of uncertainty and a more palpable conviction that, this time, Duchess might not be able to handle everything that's thrown at her.… (más)