Priest of Crowns Audiobook By Peter McLean cover art

Priest of Crowns

War for the Rose Throne, Book 4

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Priest of Crowns

By: Peter McLean
Narrated by: David Morley Hale
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Praise be to Our Lady of Eternal Sorrows, and blessed be the Ascended Martyr.' Those were the words on lips of the faithful: Blessed be the Ascended Martyr, and woe betide you if you thought otherwise. The word Unbeliever had become a death sentence on the streets in those days.

Gangster, soldier, priest. Governor, knight, and above all, Queen's Man.

Once, Tomas Piety looked after his men, body and soul, as best he could. Then those who ran his country decided his dark talents would better serve in the corridors of power.

Crushed by the power of the Queen's Men and with the Skanian menace rising once more on the streets of Ellinburg, Tomas Piety is forced to turn to old friends, old debts and untrustworthy alliances.

Meanwhile in the capital city of Dannsburg, Dieter Vogel is beginning to wonder if the horror he has unleashed in the Martyr's Disciples might be getting out of control.

With revolution brewing and tragedy and terrorism running rife in the cities, Piety and Vogel must each weigh the cost of a crown.

©2022 Peter McLean (P)2022 Quercus Editions Limited Epic Fantasy Military
Gripping Storyline • Compelling Characters • Satisfying Conclusion • Masterful Storytelling • Complex Protagonist
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really great addition to the series. kinda sad if this will be the last book in the series

absolutely fantastic

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I am curious as to what could potentially happen next compelling story truly loved it. I miss the OG narrator though. new guy did a fantastic job but there's just something Thomas piety about the first narrator

fantastic storytelling both written and spoken words

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This is probably my favorite fantasy/grimdark series I’ve ever read. I absolutely can not wait for the next one. Highly recommend this series to anyone into darker low fantasy.

Amazing!

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Loved this 4-book trilogy, and will miss it now it’s finished, author does a great job of booking things to a brutal end, as expect

What a ‘trilogy’ 10/10 - great

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Fantastic ending to a fantastic series. This series goes on the “must” list. Narrator was perfect.

Bravo… Absolutely fantastic!

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Make no mistake, the brandy I drank to get me through this stunning book was all I need, in our lady’s name.

Book 3 Tomas was treading deep brandy and I felt that his intelligence ran away due to his fear of the Queen’s men and Vogel. This book it comes back into full force with tons of brandy, violence and brandy, and make no mistake more brandy. I enjoyed this book far more than book 3 and the ending left me satisfied. I wish an epilogue was made to cover other characters just to see where they end up but most questions were answered.

My only gripe was how much brandy Tomas drank and referenced. I know he’s an alcoholic but brandy this brandy that brandy here brandy there brandy everywhere.

Improved from the third brandy

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This was a story with many twists that you will do a marathon session to finish

Utterly Amazing!!!

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When you get to the end of a series, picking up the final book can be a somewhat daunting prospect. Before you start, you have to wonder: will the author stick the landing, or will they stumble & fall? Will I love this book, or will I be bitterly disappointed? I was not disappointed by Priest of Crowns. I loved it.

Peter McLean stuck that landing.

The War for the Rose Throne series is told in first person from the point of view of Tomas Piety, a gangster, and a killer, who's not only ruthless but very ambitious. I love first person stories. You literally get into the head of the narrator. So, you see everything through their eyes. You know what they know when they know it and you're privy to their decision-making process. The narrator might make some horrible choices, but you see *why* they made those choices. So, those decisions make sense, and you support those choices.

Peter McLean's War for the Rose Throne series has been that way for me. Tomas Piety is a great character. He's a killer and a badly damaged individual who'd slit your throat as soon as look at you, but he has a strong moral code of his own, a gangster's code. Pay your "taxes" to his organization and he'll protect you. Prove yourself to be a loyal and reliable member of his crew and you'll be well rewarded. If you're cut down by a rival gang, he'll avenge you. But, if you cross the line by abusing women and children or if, gods forbid, you dare betray him, you'll be lucky if the worst thing you get is a knife in the heart. And he won't lose a moment of sleep over it because he has no conscience. But somehow, I loved Tomas Piety despite all that.

I understood and supported Tomas's decisions all the way because he did everything for the right reasons, or so it seemed. Doing such horrible things wasn't right, of course, but it felt like justice. He did what he had to do to protect his home, his family, and his people. Tomas Piety isn't a hero, of course, but it felt like he was.

But Tomas is the one telling the story, and everyone's the hero of their own story, aren't they? Even villains. As I got deeper and deeper into Priest of Crowns, I felt less and less comfortable with the decisions that Tomas was making. As his choices became more & more unsettling, they became harder & harder to justify, even in the heart & mind of this very enthusiastic fan.

Peter McLean didn't shy away from showing us that unsettling underbelly of his protagonist. The end of Tomas's story rocked my understanding, and acceptance, of Tomas's actions up to now. If I ever listen to the series again (and I probably will!), I'll approach it with an entirely new understanding of the characters and events in Tomas's life and the choices he made.

Peter McLean took a big risk to end the series that way, but it paid off big time. Rarely does the end of a series force you to re-evaluate the entire journey the way this one has done for me. As a result, it was one of the most satisfying, and mind-blowing, endings of a series I've ever read.

Priest of Crowns was an absolutely stunning finale. It was bloody, heart-breaking and brilliant.

Thank you, Peter.

An absolutely stunning finale

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One of my favourite series in years, each book better than the last, and this one was an absolute knock-out. The final lines are a beautiful, haunting, grimy gutpunch, and McLean really nailed it. I listened to the audio version of this and the narrator is one of the best I've heard. Cannot recommend highly enough.

Astounding finale to one of the best series

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David Morley Hale killed it! I thought the narrator change sound ruin things but it didn’t at all, a perfect transition. What an incredible story and one I’m so sad is over. I hope the author will return to this world.

WOW… just wow. Incredible ending

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