Early Review – A Trade of Blood (Shadow of the Leviathan, Book 3) by Robert Jackson Bennett (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 380 pages
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: August 4, 2026
ASIN: B0FK9DM2MP
Stand Alone or Series: 3rd book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series
Source: eGalley from NetGalley for Review
Rating: 5/5 stars

“The heir to one of the Empire’s most powerful families sits in jail, accused of murder. His hands are covered in the victim’s blood, and he can neither deny his guilt nor explain his actions.

But if the great detective Ana Dolabra cannot save him from the noose, the farming canton of Sapirdad will explode into war, threatening to plunge the whole Empire into starvation and chaos.

As Ana investigates—her assistant Dinios Kol, as ever, acting as her eyes and ears—she fears her task is even more daunting than it seemed. For this murder is just the latest in a deeper, subtler web of death, woven by a mastermind with an ancient weapon at his disposal.

With their customary skill, Ana and Din pursue their adversary through the canton’s wild ranges, sprawling ranches, and reeking slaughterhouses. Yet even they are not prepared to learn the horrifying secret behind their opponent’s powers.”

Series Info/Source: This is the 3rd book in the Shadow of the Leviathan series. I got an ebook of this for review from NetGalley..

Thoughts: This was a very well done book in this series, I enjoyed it a lot. I love the crazy characters in here and the amazingly creative world. As always the murder mystery was expertly done.

Ana and Din have been sent into the Sapirdad farming canton. The heir to one of the ruling families has been found next to dead women with his hands covered in blood. The dead woman just happens to be the daughter of an opposing ruling family. With Sapirdad on the edge of a civil war, Ana and Din must figure out what happened quickly or a major food supplier for the Empire could end up in turmoil.

I love the very odd characters in this series and the incredibly intricate and creative fantasy world here. I adored that we learned a lot more about the history of the Empire and about the race that came before. We also learn more about the Leviathans.

The story is very twisty, turny and keeps the reader guessing. Wound in with the murder mystery itself are a number of self-inflicted deaths and a strange mutation done to help with herding the gargantuan cattle. The story ends up incredibly gory at parts, and there is some crazy action as well.

I thoroughly enjoyed this and was happy to get to re-visit this crazy world of genetically modified people trying to survive in a land under the shadow of enormous leviathans. This whole book was very well written and easy to read. The story is complex but never gets confusing despite its fast pace.

My Summary (5/5): Overall I absolutely loved this. I continue to be fascinated by the amazing world here and love learning more about it. I also continue to enjoy the quirky characters in this series. The mystery is complex and multi-faceted but never gets to confusing to follow. Really love this whole series and would recommend to those who enjoy unique fantasy worlds, morally gray characters, and don’t mind having some murder mystery and gore involved.