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Product Description
Review
‘Irresistible… rambunctious entertainment.’
Observer
‘Rumbustious…a darkly attractive hero, terrific period atmosphere and action.’ The Times
‘Atmospheric and well researched… try it.’ Daily Mirror
‘“Ratcatcher” has everything: duels and derring-do, London highlife and lowlife, French lechery and treachery – all contained in a fast-moving, cleverly constructed plot with an immaculately detailed historical background. Add a hero who is ruthless, mysterious and sexy, and it's a safe bet that “Ratcatcher” marks the start of a series that will run and run…and run!’ Reginald Hill
‘“Ratcatcher” is a richly enjoyable and impressively researched novel – also very gripping. James McGee is clearly a rising star in the historical galaxy and I look forward to Hawkwood’s return.’ Andrew Taylor, author of ‘The American Boy’
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Customer Reviews
In other words this is another historical thriller in the same vein as Cornwell's Sharpe novels or Lunn's Killigrew series, and sticks to the formula set by its precursors; lone hero with a past uncovers and then foils conspiracy. On the way romantic entanglements ensue, he gains a sidekick, thumbs his nose at authority, faces certain death, has numerous fights, yet eventually comes out on top. As such Ratcatcher is hardly the most original work ever published.
Despite this lack of freshness in its approach however, it still deserves four stars for being jolly good fun, a must for books such as these. Hawkswood, the hero, is a good creation. He ticks all the requisite boxes, being simultaneously handsome, energetic, charming, mysterious, witty, serious, haunted, romantic, brave, self-sacrificing, wild, unpredictable and morally upstanding as and when the plot requires. His background is drawn in enough depth to make him interesting and the author has enough skill with dialogue and narrative to make him believable. The success of book like this depends heavily on the strength of the lead character, and in Hawkswood Ratcatcher has a winner.
The same goes for the supporting cast, both on the side of good and bad. All the major players are well enough drawn and fill their roles adeptly, even if each one is merely a cliche given form; from the cheeky yet dependable sidekick to the stern authority figure to the villain of the piece.
The plot trundles along at a rapid pace, faltering only once when a large chunk of exposition is required in order for the reader, through Hawkswood's eyes, to understand the plot. Its utterly predictable in every respect, with no twists prompting particular surprise, and the central hook lacks freshness (reader's familiar with recent Killigrew adventures in particular will have a strong feeling od deja vu reading Ratcatcher), but its well put together, easy to follow and flows nicely. Its a satisfying tale well told.
All in all Ratcatcher will not win any awards for originality but gains points for being an entertaining period romp told with a pace and wit. Judged on those requirements alone it is worthy of four stars.
I'm afraid I found this a very pedestrian and formulaic novel, the characters are obvious and you can see what's coming from the start of the each page. There's little left to the imagination so everything is described with a seemingly formulaic eight adjectives or more. Our `hero' has all the obvious traits - ex-army, a fighter, a lover, dark past. There's nothing really original here, almost as if we're reading the results of a correspondence writing course. There's a lot better out there so, unless you've read everything already keep searching.
I was torn between racing through the pages to find out what happens next and wanting the book to last.
I hope this will be the first of a series and we won't have to wait too long for the follow up. A great read, I loved it.
There are so many similarities between Sharpe and the main character Hawkwood! Read more
I'd read the opening of this book a while ago, and decided to add it to my... Read more
Firstly I would point out the book's style. Read more
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