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ve nothing to lose but honour and that they can never lose there is action throughout including a battle which feels different from most others in roman military fiction i think this is partly because this is civil war and the soldiers fight men they have previously served beside it s a dirty battle harrowing and well you must read it but there s more to the novel than battles there are journeys spies great bits on boats and it s told with expertise and humour the author likes to take us to the limit of what we can endure with these deeply loved characters and i will admit i was as traumatised as i was gripped this is a great story about a time of roman history i know relatively little and the author certainly knows his stuff when it comes to roman military action and keeping his readership on the edge of its seat and what a cover other reviews and features empire i wounds of honour empire ii arrows of fury empire iii fortress of spears empire iv the leopard sword empire v the wolf s gold empire vi the eagle s vengeance empire vii the emperor s knives empire viii thunder of the gods empire x the scorpion s strike empire ix altar of blood empire x the scorpion s strike empire xi river of gold empire xii vengeance betrayal the centurions i onslaught the centurions ii retribution the centurions iii an interview for the eagle s vengeance an interview for the emperor s knives this entry was posted in historical fiction review roman and tagged historical fiction rome on february 21 2023 by kate for winter nights the english führer by rory clements 1 reply zaffre 2023 19 january 400p review copy buy the book it is the autumn of 1945 the war is over but not for everyone while many war criminals wait in their cells for trial others have hidden themselves and continue the work of their führer or emperor a japanese submarine reaches the end of its very long journey at the quiet town of flowthorpe it s not long before many of the inhabitants become extremely ill and the town is sealed off by the military former spy tom wilde has returned to his job as professor of history at cambridge university but he is not to be left in peace he is given the task of investigating a suspected ring of fascists who will stop at nothing to keep their cause alive with a new leader here in england tom and his wife lydia are right to be concerned they are told that their names are on a nazi hitlist others on that list are already murdered england has never been more dangerous for professor tom wilde and his family the english führer is the seventh novel in a series that i have loved from the beginning they are usually published in january and it s hard to imagine a better way to start off the reading year you can read any of them on their own but i recommend reading them as a series we have been on a dangerous journey with tom and lydia from before the war with tom s undercover missions taking him to the heart of nazi germany it s so good to learn that the series continues even though the war is over now the trouble is all on home shores rory clements is such a good writer of spy novels set in any period tom wilde is an expert on elizabethan espionage which is a wonderful reference to the author s other novels set in the 16th century parallels are found between the past and present and tom has learnt much from elizabeth i s spymaster walsingham i really enjoy the idea of a history professor transforming himself into a spy but the fact that he appears in the hit list shows just how well he performed that role his wife lydia has had a secondary role for later books in the series and so it is good to have her back for this book there is something very appealing about lydia the english führer tells a great story complex at times as you might expect from a spy novel it s impossible to know who to trust and tom and lydia find themselves in very real danger these novels have always considered the nature of evil and here we discover what can happen to it when it is driven underground or worse is found to be useful by the victorious nations i think the novel suffers a little from not including one of tom s missions abroad but this is a minor point it s an excellent novel that continues a series i really don t want to be without and i heartily recommend it other reviews holy spy corpus nucleus nemesis hitler s secret a prince and a spy t he man in the bunker this entry was posted in 20th century historical fiction review spies thriller world war two and tagged historical fiction spies thriller world war two on february 13 2023 by kate for winter nights the twist of a knife by anthony horowitz 3 replies century 2022 384p review copy and bought copy buy the book everything is looking up for our author anthony horowitz his play mindgame is about to open on the london stage which means he can finally finish his uneasy literary partnership with former detective daniel hawthorne all is well on opening night and anthony has reason to be optimistic as he waits at the afterparty for the first reviews to come in shockingly the sunday times famous critic harriet throsby savages the play and its author it s the end of the line for the play it s also the end of the line for the critic the next day harriet is found stabbed killed by an ornamental knife anthony horowitz owns one very much like it the detective in charge has a grudge against anthony daniel hawthorne might be worth knowing after all the daniel hawthorne books of which this is the fourth are among the most witty clever and dastardly books that i have ever read they take apart crime fiction and crime writing and throw it all back together again in a way that leaves the reader particularly this one astounded the fact that the author is one of the two main protagonists giving astonishing proceedings an air of authenticity and truth adds an extra edge of fabulous audacity anthony tells us everything he s at pains to be open with us to justify himself and to get things off his chest especially about daniel hawthorne daniel is an enigma to anthony and to us even though of course anthony horowitz has created him quite apart from the cleverness of the concept and the truly brilliant way in which it is delivered giving the reader all sorts of insight into what life may or may not be like for a successful novelist the twist of a knife is a fantastic crime novel it has a great plot which as the title suggests is as twisty as you could wish and the characters are so enjoyable not least the greatly feared harriet throsby the idea that literary critics are being targeted is developed with relish as with the other novels the twist of a knife is hugely entertaining and very witty largely due to its narrator who in this novel above all others has much to prove especially to the police i listened to the audiobook which was read so well by rory kinnear i recommend it other revews magpie murders the moonflower murders the word is murder the sentence is death a line to kill this entry was posted in crime review and tagged crime on january 31 2023 by kate for winter nights act of oblivion by robert harris leave a reply hutchinson heinemann 2022 1 september 480p review copy and bought copy buy the book it is 1660 and the restoration of king charles ii leads to one of the greatest manhunts in history the pursuit of the regicides all those who signed the death warrant of charles i and took part in his execution in 1649 had a price on their head even those who had died peacefully in their beds were exhumed and strung up and any foolish enough to come forward on the promise of an amnesty and forgiveness paid the ultimate price for their misplaced trust edward whalley and his son in law william goffe led forces under cromwell and flourished now they have run almost as far as they can to new england and the safe houses of republican boston but when regicide hunter richard naylor picks up their scent nowhere is safe because nothing will stop this man who has his own personal reasons for vengeance the past can not be forgiven over the years robert harris has become one of my very favourite authors his novels are incredibly varied and he has a genius for finding mystery and thrills in the most unexpected places even in the selection of a new pope in conclave what an amazing novel that is he is also the author of my favourite historical novels pompeii and those other fantastic roman novels about cicero he can also turn history on its head as we saw with the second sleep or go straight to the heart of the matter in real historical events as in munich now we go back to the 17th century and the repercussions of the execution of a king such an act is of such magnitude that it must tear the world apart and only justice can heal the wound richard naylor the fictional character of the novel is almost inhuman in his determination neither good nor evil but resolute and damaged to his core act of oblivion follows both stories that of the hunter and that of the hunted on both sides of the atlantic i found both stories equally fascinating and the detail of london and boston so completely different as well as other developing settlements in new england completely absorbing there is such a sense of new and old forward and backward but this is a robert harris novel and so nothing is straightforward and it s not long before the waters are muddied there is something truly epic in the efforts of whalley and goffe to escape capture as well as in the stoic endurance suffered by whalley s daughter and goffe s wife in her love and the strength that it feeds on one level it is a thoroughly exciting adventure with something of the wild west about it as whalley and goffe hide in the most unlikely places just a breath away from capture there are also political discussions the execution of the king is an act that requires justification to all including those who did the deed london and boston are worlds away from one another and yet as harris shows a cause can be no more noble than the men who fight for it adding to the intrigue are the reminiscences of whalley and goffe of the extraordinary man who made them leading to their destruction oliver cromwell while the reader can sympathise with and admire whalley and goffe for what they must endure there is also cause for deep loathing likewise naylor also deserves pity and understanding he is not a monster of his own making i loved how caught up i became in these lives some of what happens here has passed into american folklore there are some incredible moments this is a novel every bit as exciting as you would want from a cat and mouse hunt to the death it is also brilliantly written by an author who knows exactly where to focus whatever the period of history whoever the people involved outstanding other reviews an officer and a spy dictator conclave munich the second sleep v2 this entry was posted in 17th century america civil war historical fiction restoration review and tagged historical fiction restoration seventeenth century thriller on december 7 2022 by kate for winter nights domitian by simon turney 1 reply canelo adventure 2022 22 october 415p review copy buy the book domitian was through many of his formative years the heir and spare to an ambitious general a sometime challenger to the imperial throne and then the emperor himself vespasian it wasn t easy living through in one piece the reigns of nero and the subsequent conveyor belt of ill equipped and doomed emperors and domitian suffered as much as anyone seeing family members murdered but domitian survived because he turned his seeming unimportance into a talent creating a spy network that would see him out of all sorts of trouble and push his family ever upwards he was an observer of everyone while being observed by none except by his noble friend and political tutor nerva who takes some time out in the aftermath of it all to tell us all about it you won t want to turn away domitian is one of the most famous of the infamous roman emperors and a suitable subject for simon turney s damned emperors series or naughty emperors as i like to call them domitian is the third after caligula and commodus and the only one not to begin with c as with the other books we largely see the subject through the eyes of others sometimes as with nerva the eyes are wise and my quite good knowledge of rome has me very intrigued about nerva s role in all of this while the novel itself tells of a dramatic sequence of events they occur over many years and that makes for a saga feel to the story it isn t rushed we re expected to get to know domitian and nerva and to get a feeling for what this rome of theirs was like in this rome reaching the purple heights of the throne was no guarantee of security or longevity danger comes from every direction and also from within this is a novel with numberless conspirators whispering in the shadows now and again they get hauled out onto the stage to be cut up into pieces but there is always someone to replace them domitian is more aware of this than anyone but he has his friends just a few and he keeps them close and loyal but there is also the inner domitian what he keeps hidden and what escapes from him terrifyingly i do enjoy the ambiguity of these novels they don t make bad people good but they do make you question assumptions about a person gleefully written off by suetonius while also enjoying those famous and scandalous traits preserved to history in other guises simon turney aka s j a turney writes some excellent roman military fiction in this series we move from the battlefield to the no less deadly arena of roman politics and its popular venue for murder and mayhem the imperial banquet domitian is a thoroughly entertaining very well written imperial biography while also being full of facts and details about roman life for the rich and entitled in the second half of the 1st century ad it is a fine time in which to set a novel especially one as good as this a less fine time in which to have actually been around other reviews caligula commodus with gordon doherty sons of rome writing historical locations a guest p ost apologies apologies for my recent hiatus from reviewing while i contend with continued pain and mobility issues i am feeling happier in myself these days so i have reviews written and we re ready to go my friends this entry was posted in historical fiction review roman and tagged historical fiction rome on november 15 2022 by kate for winter nights post navigation older posts for winter nights the books here are primarily of the historical fiction or science fiction bent with some thrillers and crime thrown in but there are happy exceptions follow for winter nights a bookish blog on wordpress com currently reading search for winter nights search for recently reviewed the players by minette walters review catch up part one munich wolf by rory clements alien clay by adrian tchaikovsky and other morsels for 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