Published By: Sharpe Books
Pages: 237
Released On: 18/08/2022
London 1642.
The King has fled London with the drums of war ringing in his ears. Across the country, lines are being drawn and armies raised.
Influential royalist Lady Carlisle switches sides and presses spice trader Thomas Tallant and his partner Elizabeth Seymour into Parliament’s service.
Soon Thomas faces double-dealing in his hunt for a lethal hoard of gunpowder hidden on the river, while Elizabeth engages in a race against time to locate a hidden sniper picking off Parliamentary officers at will in the city.
The capital also witnesses a vicious gang of jewel thieves take advantage of the city’s chaos to go on the rampage, smashing homes and shops, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. They hand pick their targets but refrain from selling any of their loot. There are more questions than answers.
When war finally erupts, Elizabeth is caught in the brutalising carnage of Edgehill while Thomas joins the Trained Bands in their defence of the city. As he mans the barricades at Brentford, in a desperate rearguard action to repel Prince Rupert’s surprise attack, he realises the future of London rests in the hands of him and a few hundred troopers.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth believes she has identified the jewel thief and goes underground to trace his hoard.
But all is not as it seems.
*****
Thanks to Michael for sending me a copy of his book in return for an honest review.
This is book number three in the Thomas Tallant Mysteries series. I think I might have got more out of it if I’d read the first two as I have a feeling this builds upon plot and relationships. But I wouldn’t say I was at much of a disadvantage coming in fresh. I could still enjoy the story.
I don’t know much about the time period in this book and so I can’t say for sure that everything is true, but it felt it, and I feel Michael must have done heaps of research to find that clarity, and it definitely shows. I haven’t read any fiction before involving the British Civil War, so that was interesting to read. How much is true I don’t know, but what he has written is clear and confident and brutal, and he’s really brought the horrific reality of war for those actively involved and those innocent bystanders to life. And I must say it is this story that interested me the most. Don’t get me wrong, the other storylines were good too, but the main Civil War aspect was handled so well and it just grabbed me like a good war book does.
It is fast paced, doesn’t hang about with fillers – although I’m aware that the build up scenes, plots and characters may have been present in the first two books – which means you get right into the action, making it a quick and interesting read.
There are a few threads around the main story and they’re all intertwined very nicely. They don’t feel confused or conflicting, or surplus, it’s easy to figure out which plot points and which characters it is affecting and how it all relates to the main story.
For a book set around the English Civil War, unsurprisingly there are some darker themes, including protests, theft, counterfeit goods, attacks, injury, death, dishonesty, politics etc.
I have made no secret about my general dislike of overly long books (my sweet spot is 300-400), and so I was pleased to see one under 300 pages. But even I must admit that I wanted a bit more of this. Whilst I enjoyed it, I felt it needed more. What was there was great, but I wanted more, more detail, just, more. I feel his talent in storytelling is wonderful and I wanted him to fully show that. I’m not asking for a 900 page books, but I feel he’s goth the skill and the knowledge to really pack out a thick story.
I won’t go into too much detail about it as I don’t want to spoil it, but I will say the final chapter is set in the present day, and I felt that was the perfect way to end the story. It gives a satisfying conclusion to the goings on and bizarrely, I found that chapter the most moving.
I don’t know if this is the final book in a trilogy or if he’s still got more to come, but he’s definitely whetted my appetite.
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