Book Review of "Before They Are Hanged - First Law Trilogy Book 2"

They say the middle book of a trilogy could be a filler - you have the beginning and the end in your first and the third book respectively and the second one is there to "continues the story". There definitely is a kernel of truth to this generalization, but I have seen exceptions as well (case in point - the second book from the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy). That being said, "Before They Are Hanged" unfortunately is not such an exception. IMO, it falls into the proverbial "middle book" fallacy. What works in its favor though (and hence the 4/5 rating from me), is the excellent characters and some of the sassiest character interactions in fantasy novels I have seen. The action sequences are painted superbly. The story arc of this book kind of feels flat. All in all, if you enjoyed the first book of the 'First law Trilogy', you'll enjoy this one, though not as much. For me, it's enough to keep me interested and go for the third book. I guess that's the main purpose of the middle books anyways!