"But, like a lot of things you spend your life chasing, the catching of it hadn’t really lived up to expectations."

For some, it has been quite a wait between Amra Thetys books. In the afterword, Michael McClung addresses this fact and states he hopes it lives up to expectation. I personally dreaded reading this particular book because it is the most recently published, so this is the end of the line; at least for now. As to whether it meets expectations? Certainly. If you have read this far then you enjoy the protagonist and her sarcastic gallows humor and cheer on her unwavering resolve against impossible odds.

"We are terrible creatures, we humans, capable of terrible things."

Amra is alone. Bait for a hidden enemy that wishes her dead. This particular nasty doesn't do her own dirty work, oh no. Amra finds herself beset on all sides; each faction an unknowing pawn of Visini, The Blade that Binds and Blinds. And like a cat she patiently wrings all the pain and misery out of her quarry before finally ending its life.

“‘Never again,’” I muttered, because if you can’t lie to yourself in the privacy of a bath, then when can you?"

The events from the last book to now are sketchy. "Where the hell is Holgren?" That's the million dollar question that everyone wants the answer to. Is it that Amra will not or cannot tell where he is? There are several inconsistencies that Amra refuses to see or react to. Even when they are brought to her attention.

"Oh, we’re being honest? All right. How many innocent people have you jailed, Kluge? How many have done a little jig at Traitor’s Gate because you decided they would, and evidence be damned? I remember the speech you gave me in Havelock; every fucking word of it. ‘If we want you to hang, you’ll hang.’ That’s what you fucking told me. You think you’re better than me? You hold a whip, and you pretend it’s justice. That’s your sort."

Amra has led a hard life. Her childhood was a crucible. Death, a silent companion. She was forged into the person she is. Hard and tough as nails but not inhuman. Practical with a tenacity to spit in the Devil's face and give him the finger.

"When you can’t run and you can’t hide, when something relentless and unstoppable is trying to end you, when something is destroying the people and the things you care about, you stick a blade in it. And then you watch it bleed out, to make sure it’s well and truly dead."

In the end, you have to put your enemies down. But also be able to walk away with your humanity intact.

The Thief Who Went to War is a quick read with brief chapters that keep you riveted. I was enthralled. It's dark and violent; told from Amra's perspective. I have enjoyed the entire series and heartily recommend it to anyone. Although, this is certainly not the place to start. Each book is self contained, but each builds upon the other.

All five novels and the novella are available in digital and print from Amazon. The first three books are actually collected in an omnibus called Pulled Spat Knocked: Amra Thetys Omnibus 1 which is also part of the Kindle Unlimited program.