I realized that anyone who dared to hurt me would suffer his full wrath, and Walt wasn’t going to hold him back.

I come to writing the same way I come to teaching, which is that my goal is always to create life-long readers.

You dropped this," he said, totally poker-faced.

Yes, Horus said. I remember this place. It’s El Paso, I told him. Unless you went out for Mexican Food, you’ve never been here.

He told me he wouldn't hurt... Charlie. He lied to me.

As in all Abercrombie's books, friends turn out to be enemies, enemies turn out to be friends; the line between good and evil is murky indeed; and nothing goes quite as we expect. With eye-popping plot twists and rollicking good action, Half a King is definitely a full adventure.

The whole campfire idea freaked Piper out. It made her think of that huge purple bonfire in the dreams, and her father tied to a stake. What she got instead was almost as terrifying: a sing-along.