|
43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark Fire is as HOT as its title, 29 Nov 2005
Dark Fire is a well written if somewhat slow paced novel in parts that is the sequel to the equally good Dissolution.Welcome to the 16th century world of the lawyer Mathew Shardlake, a hunchback who is a skilled scholar and a savvy Detective all rolled into one. Dark Fire takes place a few years after Dissolution and sees him defending the niece of a friend who has been accused of murdering her 12 year old cousin Ralph. With the case surely lost because the judge is eager to see the girl pressed for not pleading, Mathew gains time to help her through Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's Vice General who wants Mathew to do a job for him, a job that Mathew knows will not be easy or for that matter with dangers lurking in every corner. In this book we are introduced to Barek, an insolent young commoner with some learning who on his father's side is descended from the ancient faith of Judea, in Dark Fire we watch the jaded Mathew and the shrewd Barek slowly form a grudging relationship, based on their abilities to use their brains together and come up with some startling answers to some frightening questions. Dark Fire is actually two stories, who actually murdered the 12 year old boy and who has the formula to Greek Fire, an ancient weapon with modern ramifications. With murders happening all over the place, a mad Grandmother hell bent on preserving her family honour, along with a power struggle between Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Norfolk, and a whole heap of other exciting threads to bring together we have book filled with intrigues, dark secrets and even darker tragedies. I really enjoyed Dissolution but I enjoyed Dark Fire even more and the hunchback lawyer protagonist in my opinion is a new breed of hero, a person with a disability in a time when disability was not accepted, not only that he is a lawyer, a man of letters, a man of compassion and a man of honour. I am really looking forward to the next instalment in this series of book which I think will be equally as interesting and intriguing. A cracking good read for those cold lonely winter nights when you want something intelligent to get your teeth into. Excellent!
|
by C. J. Sansom
by C. J. Sansom
by C. J. Sansom
by C. J. Sansom
by Hilary Mantel
