League of Liars

In this fantasy thriller, four teens charged with murder and caught up with the illegal use of magic band together to devise the ultimate jailbreak. Perfect for fans of Six of Crows and How to Get Away with Murder.\nEver since his mother was killed, seventeen-year-old Cayder Broduck has had one goal—to see illegal users of magic brought to justice. People who carelessly use extradimensional magic for their own self-interest, without a care to the damage it does to society or those around them, deserve to be punished as far as Cayder is concerned. Because magic always has a price. So when Cayder lands a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to apprentice under a premier public defender, he takes it. If he can learn all the tricks of public defense, the better he’ll be able to dismantle defense arguments when he’s a prosecutor. Then he’ll finally be able to make sure justice is served.\nBut when he meets the three criminals he’s supposed to defend, it no longer seems so black and white. They’re teenagers, like him, and their stories are . . . complicated, like his. Vardean, the prison where Cayder’s new clients are incarcerated, also happens to be at the very heart of the horrible tear in the veil between their world and another dimension—where all magic comes from.\nLeague of Liars is a dark and twisty mystery set in a richly-drawn world where nothing is as it seems, rife with magic, villains and danger.\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 7 Up-Since his mother's death in an edem-summoning accident when he was 10, 17-year-old Cayder Broduck has dedicated his life to making sure edem criminals get the justice they deserve. Edem-time-and-space warping magic that exists only in shadows-has posed a threat to the nation of Telene for over 100 years, ever since the veil opened on the edge of the sea and poured edem into the world. Using edem is strictly prohibited by Telene's iron-fisted government, and Cayder has taken on an apprenticeship with the nation's top public defender to learn the other side of the law. But when three high-profile edem-related murders happen in quick succession and all three cases drop in his lap, Cayder soon realizes that justice is not always so black-and-white, especially when he finds out one of the criminals is his own sister. Scholte's third novel is a mash-up fantasy/legal drama/heist story whose parts don't become a cohesive whole. Several aspects of the worldbuilding are interesting, but aren't explored deeply enough to create a sense of immersion. The cast of characters is diverse, with several characters described as having dark skin, but shallow; it's difficult for readers to sympathize or be involved with the characters due to their lack of fleshing out. However, the plot contains just enough hooks to keep readers wondering what will happen next and find out who-or what-is behind these murders. VERDICT An interesting but not-fully-realized fantasy legal drama. Recommended for shelves that are light on those genres, but feel free to skip.-Tyler Hixsonα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.