Format: Hardcover, 608 pages
Release Date: April 30, 2019
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Fantasy / Dark Fantasy
Six of Crows meets Ocean’s 11 in book two of Amanda Foody’s Shadow Game series, a dark fantasy trilogy that follows ladylike Enne Salta and gangster Levi Glaisyer through the ever-more-dangerous streets of the City of Sin in the aftermath of their assassination of Malcolm Semper, Chancellor of the Republic.
Indulge your vices in the City of Sin, where a sinister street war is brewing and fame is the deadliest killer of them all...
On the quest to find her missing mother, prim and proper Enne Salta became reluctant allies with Levi Glaisyer, the city’s most famous con man. Saving his life in the Shadow Game forced Enne to assume the identity of Seance, a mysterious underworld figure. Now, with the Chancellor of the Republic dead and bounties on both their heads, she and Levi must play a dangerous game of crime and politics…with the very fate of New Reynes at stake.
Thirsting for his freedom and the chance to build an empire, Levi enters an unlikely partnership with Vianca Augustine’s estranged son, Harrison who will do anything to see his mother's reign come to an end. Meanwhile, Enne remains trapped by the mafia donna’s binding oath, playing the roles of both darling lady and cunning street lord, unsure which side of herself reflects the truth.
King of Fools, by author Amanda Foody, is the second installment in the authors The Shadow Game trilogy. It's the morning after Erienne (Enne) Salda and Levi Glaisyer survived the so called Shadow Game. The chancellor was assassinated by Levi
Glaisyer and the mysterious character known only as Séance. The duo are now wanted dead or alive with the newspapers crying out
for blood while the Senate has called for a complete extermination of the gangs of the North Side before
the political election in three months to maintain their appearance of
control.
In the 10 days Enne Salta has spent in this morally
decrepit city of Sin, she's lost everything--her mother, her innocence, and her
identity. Though she is determined to uncover more of her mother
Lourdes’ secrets, Vianca Augustine demands she use her new persona as
Séance to further Vianca’s political goals. Enne is forced to become a
proper street lord, and use her underlings, like Lola Sanguick, to inspire the North Side to
the monarchist cause. Thanks to Vianca's omerta, Enne has no choice but
to obey, but that doesn't mean that she and Levi don't have their own plans which doesn't include helping Vianca.
As they consolidate their power in the North Side, and new players like Tock and Grace join Levi and Enne's gangs, their partnership eventually blossoms into a power that leads to them becoming the richest pair in the North Side. But, being rich tends to put a rather large target on your backs. They also attempt to bring all of the gangs of the North Side together in order to save it. But the true test of their relationship comes when Vianca
orders Enne to commit murder once again—and break Levi's heart in the
process.
While Enne and Levi are the primary narrators, Jac Mardlin, Levi's second-in-command, is given a job that brings him into contact with Vianca's competitors and enemies the Torren's including Sophia who he spends most of the story with. Jac desires his own narrative, and his own future, and is willing to trust Sophia in order to get the legend he desires. Levi's life is a gigantic mess who’s love for a good gamble and dangerous interludes with just about anyone who catches his fancy,
continuous to get him in trouble only this time it’s more than just his
life on the line if things go south.
Enne's life has fundamentally changed so much since arriving in Sin City, that you will barely recognize her when all is said and done. Enne transformation continues to change with each new obstacle thrown her
way. She comes to accept that she now belongs to the grit and allure that is the seedy underground. It's fair to say that this book has a rather large cast of characters mainly because the author sends Enne to the South Side in order to fulfill Vianca's demands.
This
book adds on to the myths of New Reynes and the politics, delving more
into the war that killed the Mizers and the gangs themselves like the Doves, Scarhands, Irons, and Enne's new gang called Spirits which just happens to be an all girl gang. King
of Fools is a game of politics, whether it be Levi retaking the Irons,
the interactions between the street lords, or the scheming of the
Families to sway the election in their favor. As usual, the ending of this book left me bereft and curious as to how the author is going to resolve the issues that she has created.
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