I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett Series: Shadow of Leviathan #2
Published by Del Rey on 2025 Apr 01
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 480
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley
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The brilliant detective Ana Dolabra may have finally met her match in the gripping sequel to The Tainted Cup—from the bestselling author of The Founders Trilogy.
In the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, an impossible crime has occurred. A Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—abducted from his quarters while the door and windows remained locked from the inside, in a building whose entrances and exits are all under constant guard.
To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial investigator, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.
Before long, Ana’s discovered that they’re not investigating a disappearance, but a murder—and that the killing was just the first chess move by an adversary who seems to be able to pass through warded doors like a ghost, and who can predict every one of Ana’s moves as though they can see the future.
Worse still, the killer seems to be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud. Here, the Empire's greatest minds dissect fallen Titans to harness the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the destruction would be terrible indeed—and the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn.
Din has seen Ana solve impossible cases before. But this time, with the stakes higher than ever and Ana seemingly a step behind their adversary at every turn, he fears that his superior has finally met an enemy she can’t defeat.
Ever since finishing Robert Jackson Bennett’s The Divine Cities series, I knew that I’m already a fan. And while I have not yet touched his the The Founders Trilogy, rest assured that it’s already added on my TBR list. I’m just swamped with a lot of ARCs that I need to finish right now including this book. Anyhow, I’m so glad that Del Rey had given me the opportunity to read and review A Drop of Corruption because heaven knows, I’ve been waiting for it since I finished The Tainted Cup last year. You really know how good an author and his/her writings are when you find yourself pining over and agonizingly wait for their next books. I waited for A Drop of Corruption like a heartbroken lover, praying that all is not lost. So finally, the ARC was released and here I am, happy once again.
Technically, I am not really ready to write this review as I am still savoring all the goodness of A Drop of Corruption. It’s even better than the Tainted Cup and if you read the book, you’d know how amazing it is. Given that this book is written by Bennett, I expected that it’d be good. I just did not expect that it would be so arresting that I forgot to do a lot of important house chores and other lifely errands. I just can’t put it down.
Our two beloved heroes, Ana Dolabra and Dinios Kol, are at it again arriving Yarrowdale where a mysterious murder of an Imperial Tax Officer took place. Just like the Tainted Cup, the murder seemed unsolvable again as the culprit was a genius through and through in hiding his tracks. And it’s up for Ana and Dinios to unravel what happened. What amazes me about this book that it’s perfect in every way. And it did not need a damn romance to ensure such perfection.
We have flawed and well-developed characters who are likeable from beginning to end. We have a plot that kept me on my toes at every turn of the page. There was neither dragging nor rushing for things to happen. Everything just unfolded at the right moment, just when your emotion and mental wirings are all jumbled together trying to wonder what happened that led to the horrific events in the story. Of course, the world building was also pure gold as it transported us to Yarrowdale and provided us further insights on what the Empire of Khanum is. And as I delve deeper into the story, Bennett also managed to insert small pieces of crucial revelations here and there that would just make you gasp once all the puzzle pieces are complete. There were also a lot of themes explored in the book which made it so much more than just a murder mystery story. Without being preachy, you will find that the story is not just about providing justice to the victims and culprits and puzzling out the unknown, that it boils down to humanity and what it actually takes for someone to be called a human.
Suffice to say that the month of March was really kind to me for I have just read something that will surely stay with me, just like the author’s Divine Cities, for the years (not just months) to come. And as much as I tell myself that I am already way too old for gushing, I had to throw the said rule of the of window after finishing A Drop of Corruption. So please do yourself a favor, fulfill your SFF fetish and get this book.