Not as good as the first one - still entertaining.
War description chapters were terrific. 3 Stars only though.

2-star plot. But you can't deny Polansky is incredibly talented, especially with characters and dialog.

The writing is so much fun that you get your moneys worth from every line. It would be worth a few stars even if the story was terrible. However, I love the characters (and the flashbacks filling out their histories), and the story is great.

Just as good if not better then the first one. Caught me off guard with some of the plot twists.

Polansky proves that he's not a one hit wonder with the second volume in the Low Town series. More visceral details from this crime-procedural-cum-fantasy series is as good, if not better, that the previous. The Warden has his hands full managing his criminal empire, caring for a wayward teen, and making sure the people of Low Town aren't exploited beyond their own choices.

The Warden isn't all that likable but he does have his moments. For a drug addicted ex-cop he's got an interesting moral standard. While never actually stated it seems like he doesn't give two shits about anyone destroying their life with their own choices but if you step in and start exploiting people beyond their ability to consent, there's gonna be blood.

Underestimated by the noble class we watch The Warden called in to assist with quietly looking for a missing daughter. He, predictably, isn't quiet about things and find there's more to the story than he was privy to when he didn't actually accept the gig in the first place. Now here's where Polansky shines in his storytelling. Our hero, and I use that term loosely, doesn't care about politics as long as they stay out of Low Town and of course, they don't.

Having to solve an old murder of someone he may have liked at some point, the brother of the girl that ran away and dragged him to all of this, sets him on a begrudging path to take down a corrupt veteran's organization that his only friend believes in very deeply. Never mind that on top of running his illicit drug business he's managed to attract a young man and taken him under a very broken wing.

A right cluster fuck develops and it's pretty amazing that there aren't more bodies. The Warden does what he does best and in the end he's a little more broken, if that was possible, than when he started out. While not likable there's certainly a sympathetic side to our main character even if you have to peel back multiple layers to find it. His supporting players, like Yancey, could have used more stage time but that doesn't take away from the fact that is a pretty amazing follow up to Low Town.

3 / 5

Tomorrow the Killing, by Daniel Polansky, is the 2nd book in his Low Town series. It is not a middle part of a trilogy and I think it can be read on its own, though the reader will have more background info and more insight about the who and why if they have read the 1st book before this one.
Now, this book ended up as a bit of disappointment for me. Polansky is mighty with the pen and his writing style is amazing and captivating. It was what pulled me in his first book which, if memory serves me right, I gave a 5/5 rating. This one though... while still rocking hard on the same literary style as its predecessor lacks something which is vitally important: a good suspenseful and interesting plot!
I just can't understand how Polansky thought that this was good enough. The plot has good pace and interesting characters but it has no point, no meaning. The readers keep wondering who, why and maybe how but without really knowing why they ask those questions or why they should even care about those answers.
The main protagonist embarks on a incredibly brash and audacious self-imposed mission for no apparent reasons, risking everything he has, even his closest folk for something that makes no sense during the whole book; and I'm sad to say still makes no sense after its end.
Also, the whole narrative structure feels a bit like a table tennis match where the protagonist is the ball. He's constantly moving and talking, back and forth again, to the same characters, getting in trouble all the time but it feels as if the story is not progressing at all, as if nothing important is happening.
Further more, the "past/war" chapters felt completely trite and boring. I didn't gain much by reading them, not sure how the help the main plot thread at all. Other than a platform to showcase his writing skill about the misery, futility, degeneration and hardships of war, there was nothing more there. I could have skipped them and I would not have missed much.
Oh and before I stop my rant... this is a fantasy novel; Where are the fantasy elements? Unless of course we count 2 lines where a character creates a bright light in his hand while playing. Uh uh.. yeah.
But to put things straight, I may sound incredibly angry and negative but this actually not a bad book. To be honest, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it, as I will read the third one as well. It's just that after that superb first book I was expecting something even better and didn't get that.
If you love Polansky, read it. If you don't mind not having fantastical elements in your fantasy and want to read a noir story with drug-dealers, political scheming and double and triple agents, then definitely read it! But don't expect the same as the first book. Thus the 3/5 rating for this one.

3 / 5

Awesome read

If you liked the first one you'll love this. Polanski is just an awesome writer. Dark, gritty, brutal with razor wit.