Customer Reviews
hstorical fantasy - By: Mr. Michael Moore, 02 Aug 2008 
An interesting story that bring some sense of the Tudor times with Sansom's descriptions. Unfortunately the book is not really about those times but a modern view of them.
We have all the modern paraphernalia of obsessions, compulsions, modern medicine, hypnosis & serial killer that do not belong.
The identity of the killer may be a surprise but there is no way he could commit those crimes unless he was Superman.
It also needs some careful editing, for example for no reason Samuel Elliard's name was changed to Stephen.
Take the book with you on your holidays & enjoy it as you sip your glass of wine.
I would like to see Mr. Sansom take more time with the next book & really get inside the Tudor mind. (See Hiliary Mantel's book coming out next year).Revelation
The Standard Maintained - By: Eugene Onegin, 20 Jul 2008 
If you are a fan of the Shardlake series & are wondering if C.J Sansom has been able to maintain the standard of the previous volumes, fear not. If anything the plot is even more gripping than some of the earlier ones & after a slow start, a cracking pace is maintained each page full of incident. Rest assured you arein for a treat & a few late nights.
If you are new to this series then do not hesitate to give this book a try. Sansom has no equalin evoking the sights, sounds, & smells of the period. One of the author's greatest strengths is to marry a fictional plot to real historical characters & political issues so that the story seems to follow historical imperatives & the credibility of events is greatly enhanced as a consequence.
On this occasion the story opensin 1543 where Henry VIII's courtship of his sixth wife is played out against a backdrop of religious rivalry between Catholic & Protestant elements. Into this already explosive atmosphere a serial killer begins a killing spree apparently taking The Book of Revelation as his inspiration. To read Sansom is to learn a lot of historyin a uniquely entertaining way, but if you enjoy a thrilling story, cunningly plotted full of twists & turns expertly written you will be well satisfied. I know no other modern writer who gives you that delicious sense of anticipation when you return to his books after a spell away.
I'm fairly addicted to Shardlake. CJ Sansom is on a real winner. - By: R G Swale, 19 Jun 2008 This, the fourth novel concerning Matthew Shardlake, is superb. The characters are more developed (and the longer the series go on, the bigger & more developed the supporting cast becomes). The plot is cleverer & different - here we see Shardlake dealing with a serial killer, & although the politicians are involved this is a different kettle of fish to the rebellions & political plots that our favourite hunch-backed Tudor lawyer has found himself involvedin before.
Andin my opinion it's for the better - C J Sansom's writing has always been addictive (but notin an obtrusive way) & has always had totally convincing historical contexts (at least to a moderately informed one such as I). Butin the past the plots have been slightly predictable - more so the classic whodunit, with a list of suspects & a ticking-clock before some disaster happens or the heroes are knocked off. In a way, that is all still true of this book (in fact, maybe it's impossible to write a whodunit without that!) but its better concealed amidst an excellent premise.
The pages & chapters fly by, & this opens an exciting future for Shardlake. I hope it won't be too long till we hear from him again!
Excellent Tudor Thriller - By: Josi Martin, 09 Jun 2008 Most enjoyable and, despite it's hefty size, totally gripping all the way through. The characters are developing & their varied religious responses,in a age normally thought of as simply Catholic or Protestant, bring great humanity to this story which is comparatively gory.
Different but no less brilliant! - By: Gem Fay, 04 Jun 2008 Although I wouldn't say it is my favourite of the series it is certainly a masterpiece, taking Matthew to another level & engaging to the degree it actually frightened mein places. As with Sovereign I felt that if I hadn't established an understanding of the characters from the previosu books (esp. Guy & Matthew) it would have lost some of its magic :)
