The second of Arturo Perez-Reverte's Captain Alatriste novels, Purity of Blood (U.S. edition by G. P. Putnam's, 2006) sees the enigmatic Captain taking on the familiares of the Holy Inquisition after his young ward (the narrator) is captured following an ambush. Sparely-written like its predecessor, Purity of Blood gives the reader just enough details to go on without a single superfluous sentence. Perez-Reverte's description of the Inquisition's power and mindset is brutal, and gripping.
That said, I found the plot of this one rather dull, and the ending was entirely expected. A good, straightforward story, but without the intellectual twists and turns with which Perez-Reverte's earlier works (The Club Dumas, The Seville Communion) sucked me into his world. I will keep reading the Alatriste series, but I'll also keep hoping for something more.
