A Dance of Mirrors

The cloaks continue to swirl and the blades to flash as Haern the Watcher butchers his way through Dalglish’s third novel of vigilante justice and questionable personal ethics. Two years have passed since the thief war in A Dance of Blades was settled, though as merchant leader Alyssa Gemcroft notes, the troubled present times are “no peace at all.” The latest upstart is the Wraith, a lone killer whose agenda is unknown. He uses the Watcher’s sigil to lure Haern out of Veldaren to Angelport, where new atrocities are being committed. It’s the same song in a different key: vivid scenes of largely one-sided violence, deals done in dark rooms, and enough loose ends to populate the three additional books now being promised for this series. While Dalglish recounts his bloodthirsty cast’s mayhem with as much relish as ever, at this point the formulaic gore is beginning to overshadow the plot twists. Agent: Michael Carr, Veritas Literary Agency. (Dec.)