Paper and Fire – Rachel Caine

Jess Brightwell was given a position in the Library’s High Garda – he knows it’s so that the head of the Library can keep an eye on him, after they kidnapped and killed his best friend, Thomas, for his heretical ideas. The rest of their friends in their initial training class have moved on to the jobs they are best suited for, but they all still mourn Thomas.

When Jess hears a rumor that Thomas is still alive, he can scarcely believe it, but starts digging, with the help of the others, and finds out that the rumors are true. They’ll have to break Thomas out, but in doing so, will have to risk their lives, and they will never be able to go back to their old lives in the Library.

This book feels like a lot of set up – I’m hoping it’s leading to the necessary show down between Jess and his friends and the head of the Library. There were definitely some things that needed to happen to get them there, but it does seem like a shame that it took an entire book to get there. It’s not like nothing happened, but you definitely got the feeling that more should be happening. Still, I’m happy to keep reading – the set up is good.