Sometimes people fall in love, get married, and later wish the other person dead. Assassins Vlad and Cawti went about things differently. Cawti was hired to kill Vlad and succeeded -- luckily she didn't make it permanent and he was revived -- they both were. Impressed with one another, they fall in love. And they discover that there's more to the turf war that brought them together than it appears.
The second book in the Vlad Taltos series takes us back before the events of Jhereg, to his early days, when he first began expanding his role from merely assassin to boss of an area. The Jhereg is known for its criminal activity and it's not a surprise that Vlad is challenged by another area boss. But it's not good for anyone that their turf war captures the attention of the Empress -- or is it?
As with the first book in this series, there's an intricately plotted mystery at the center of the story. We learn more about Vlad's complicated relationships with dragaerans Morrolan, Aliera, and Sethra. We learn what led to him becoming an assassin. And we learn more about yet another of the 17 Great Houses of the Dragaeran Empire: the House of Yendi. Each House has certain characteristics -- while there's nothing distinctive about the appearance of the Yendi, they have a reputation for elaborate schemes, manipulations, and deceptions. Only a Yendi can unravel a Yendi's schemes . . . .
I confess, this story started off a bit slow for me. Early in Jhereg, we saw Vlad trying to prevent another Dragon-Jhereg war, so it was easy to cheer for him despite his profession. Yendi shows us his early mob boss days and there was nothing for me to like there. It wasn't until he met Cawti that I began to warm up to him this time. That's also when it was discovered that there was more to the turf war than one Jhereg's desire to move in on another's territory. At that point, I fell back in love with the series. Up next: Teckla.
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