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Novels
Lights, Camera, Homicide Costa Del Corpse The Bonfire Night Massacre The Book Of Death The Stiletto Hurrah For Hilary A Poison Of Passengers The Devils Brew The Red Zeppelin The Scandal At Bletchley The Gunpowder Treason The Pineapple Republic Murder At Flaxton Isle The Wilkerson Farm Murders Mills & Boon The Ever Living Corpse The Hand Of Turpin |
Reviews
"This is
one of the few good historical novels I have ever read
and I cannot sing its praises too loudly. It bestrides
three genres, the thriller, historical fiction and
what is often called 'faction'.... Of course, the plot
revolves around the best-known criminal conspiracy in
the Anglo-Saxon canon...but it reads like a thriller.
We are carried on from one chapter to the next almost
as though we didn't know what was going to happen next
and the pace never lets up. [The] writer knows it's
not a question of what happened - any ten year old
could tell you - it's why and how and who made it
happen... Supporting all this is the understanding and
scholarship of a writer who knows his period and the
actors in his drama. We live with the conspirators, we
breathe the stink of fear and our guts churn at the
hopelessness of their situation... but we also
understand them and what makes them act. We feel
sympathy for each of them. And yet the author never
tries to re-invent the characters - they are pretty
much what we know them to have been... brought alive
for us within the confines of historical
fact.... When you finish it you almost feel
cheated that the plot did not succeed. In her book on
the Plot, Antonia Fraser repeats a commonly held view,
'Guy Fawkes was the only man who has ever entered
Parliament for the right reasons.' Catesby, Percy, Mr
Tom, Guido - where are you all now when we need you?
So much more attractive than The Daily Telegraph as
the destroyer of Parliaments."
- Alan
Hamilton, author of Two
Unknown (Sparkling Books)
"I couldn't help but think what an
awesome movie this would make...authentic and
exquisitely researched."
- N Gemini
Sasson, author of Isabeau and The Bruce
Trilogy
"...a swift and
tantalising read, vivid and very entertaining.” - Adventures of a London Kiwi |