Crossed Blades by Kelly McCullough is the third in an entertaining and well thought out series of books. Aral Kingslayer, once the most famous of assassins, enters the series five years after losing everything. He is a broken man and a drunkard with a price on his head. In a way, these books are about his redemption, his ownership of responsibility, and his deep belief in justice.

McCullough creates a solid world with a fast paced story that holds you from start to finish. Her characters are solidly created with consistent growth and changes over time. Where the weight of the back story could easily drag a story down, the Fallen Blade novels never fall into that trap. The reader is given enough back story and the occasional flashback as needed, but it never slows the story down.

In this, the third Fallen Blade novel, Aral is a year from deciding that (1) he needs to climb out of the bottle, and (2) justice did not die with his goddess. He has a new face, and a new apprentice/daughter, and must deal with the return of his first love. This novel stands better as the third of three rather than alone, so I strongly recommend reading Broken Blade and Bared Blade, first. ( )