For starters, everyone in the Stink is starving or sick and the Pious Men would have never let that stand had they not been away at war. As it turns out, all of Tomas' businesses have fallen into other hands, unfamiliar ones at that. See, the other gangster kingpins haven't returned from the war, and it seems a foreign group called the Skanians has been funding the slow overtaking of all of the seedier businesses in town, but their plans are much larger than simply running the gambling and protection rackets in town.
When Tomas sets about to put the Pious Men back in charge of the Stink, he'll take not only former members of the group, but also soldiers he fought with in the war, such as his right hand, Sgt. Bloody Anne. But he'll also reconnect with his younger and much wilder brother, Jochan, and he will rejoin the Pious Men, bringing along his own men.
Unknown to all of his compadres, Tomas has a dirty secret, one that comes back to haunt him. He was once in service to the Queen's Men and, basically, when the Queen's Men come asking for help, you provide it or you swing from a rope. So Tomas has a stash of hidden gold from his previous work, which will help to rebuild his businesses, but the Queen's Men also want him working for them again, and they suspect the Skanians of bringing more than discord to Ellinburg. They expect full on war, and Tomas and the Pious Men are needed to roust them out. It's too bad that Tomas finds himself falling for the Queen's Man running him as of late, a lovely lass named Ailsa with more tricks and daggers up her sleeves than Tomas could ever imagine. Where the Queen's Men will see him and Ellinsburg end up is quite a ride, but it's one Tomas and his band of rowdy men are more than ready to take on.
I thoroughly enjoyed Priest of Bones. The somewhat Old English setting, the speech patterns of the characters, and McLean's style of writing are a joy to experience and the settings themselves are quite vivid. Characters have crazy names like Fat Luka, Will the Woman (later Will the Wencher, which he much prefers), Billy the Boy, and Bloody Anne, and they are all quite nuanced and layered. I can't wait to see where this series goes. Grab yourself a mug of grog and settle in to read this thoroughly enjoyable romp that weaves a tantalizing story of gangsters, magic, and flat-out head-bashing complete with leather and mail. Highly recommended.
