Jack of Thorns by A.K. Faulkner

Timy reviews Jack of Thorns, the first book in the Inheritance urban fantasy series by A.K. Faulkner.

I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Possible fit for The Sound of Madness Reading Challenge 2025 prompts:

Joker prompt that goes with anything: Freed from Desire

What do you do when a Celtic god rings your doorbell?

Laurence Riley is a San Diego florist whose ex won’t leave him alone. Quentin d’Arcy is a British earl on the run from his own family. Despite their dramatically opposite worlds, they have so much in common: they’re both failing at life, sobriety, and controlling their supernatural powers.

Desperate to get his life back on track, Laurence prays for help, and Jack answers. A Celtic deity, Jack has the power to help… For an undisclosed price.

Laurence strikes a deal, but soon realizes he can’t pay up. His only hope of surviving Jack’s wrath is to join forces with Quentin, but can they overcome their differences — and past horrors that won’t stay buried — or are their fates already sealed?

“Most adults would be altogether more subtle with it, posturing and twirling as they sized one another up like cats. Their jabs would be verbal, veiled insults and subtle barbs designed to belittle, to establish social dominance, to replace all that messy brawling with finesse and wit, but ultimately revealed themselves to have no substance behind their bluster.”

I met AK Faulkner in Glasgow back in 2024 through a mutual friend, and at one point, Kara Jorgensen’s Reanimator Mysteries series came up in the conversation, which I was just getting into at the time. Anyway, I was told that if I liked that, then I would enjoy Faulkner’s Inheritance series. So on the last day, I went to purchase my copy, but she gave one to me (a signed paperback, no less). What can a gal do in a situation like that? I threatened her with a review, like the good little blogger I am. So here we are, I finally got around to pick Jack of Thorns up (sorry for the delay!!), and I’m ready to unleash my thoughts on it.

Jack of Thorns tells the story (well, the beginning of it, anyway) of Laurence and Quentin, written in a dual POV. We are in San Diego, Laurence lives above his mother’s flower shop, spending his days helping his mom, smoking weed in order to beat his cravings for heroin, partying, and fucking whoever he fancies. One would say he is a total mess, but then, not very surprising if you consider his almost fatal overdose and the visions he sees of the future, including his father’s death, among other things. Oh, and did I mention his abusive, piece of shit ex, Dan, yet?

Enter Quentin into the picture, the earl of Banbury, an elusive English aristocrat who is on the run from his past, and himself, most of all. He is cool, collected, privileged, and a tiny bit insufferable if we are being honest. And he very easily could be an unlikeable character, but total cluelessness about things makes him utterly charming. But he has his own vices and struggles under the surface (and not so under, considering). I loved how Faulkner balanced his personality with humor.

“Alas,” he admitted, “my memry of te event is as hazy as your own.”

“I guess you didn’t wake up drowning in pussy though, am I right?”

Quentin blinked at him. “Er. No.” He was quite sure he would remember drowning in anything, kittens especially.

They form what seems like an unlikely friendship, but it works. I mean, they are complete opposites in a lot of things – looks, personality, upbringing – and yet they bring out the best in the other. They both have good hearts, they love music, and they absolutely have chemistry. And they are both stubborn as hell. All things said, I think it was Laurence who grated on my nerves more with his whining and woe-is-me attitude sometimes.

Jack of Thorns largely builds on the relationship of these two – hence why I went on and on about them – including their traumas and dark edges. But there is another, darker undertone with the appearance of an ancient Celtic god who goes by the name Jack. Obviously, I’m not going to go into details, but let’s just say he is not above manipulation and brute force when it comes to achieving his goals. Pretty much the last thing Laurence and Quentin need in their lives. As characters go, he felt a little bit one-dimensional, but also unhinged enough to make him an interesting character. To balance out all the chaos in Jack’s life, his mom, Myriam, is pretty much a saint. Her kind, calm presence was needed like a breath of fresh air.

The book is quite fast-paced, a lot happens in a short-ish amount of time – I’m actually not quite sure how much time passed in the story, but that did not affect my enjoyment. The romance is also slow burn (no thanks to Laurence), which I appreciated. Although it still felt a tiny bit insta-lovey, but that’s pretty much my only complaint. Is Jack of Thorns a perfect book? No. Did I care? Also no. I had way too much fun to worry about such things.

Jack of Thorns is only the beginning of what promises to be a wild – and very queer – ride. And while the main arc within the book wrapped up nicely, Faulkner still left some things open to build on. At the time of writing this review, the 11th book is out, which is super unfair, as the last thing I needed was another long series to get into. *shakes fists at the sky* But as it happens, I’m ready to jump on the bandwagon and can’t wait to pick up the next book sometime soon.