Sign in with Facebook
Jason Koivu's Reviews > Gallows Thief
Gallows Thief
by
by
This is damn good! Usually if it's not one of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe or Saxon series books I'm not interested. But man, this was quite interesting!
Gallows Thief follows the beginnings of the post-Napoleonic War career of Captain Rider Sandman, who has been commissioned to investigate a murder. A man has been framed and is condemned to die. Will Sandman find the evidence to save him in time?!
Most of the story takes place in and around Regency London. Cornwell has always excelled at period details and he doesn't falter here. I would say he even exceeds himself this time in the creation of his characters. From guttersnipe to lord, all are brought to life beautifully in character description and colorful dialogue. It's a true pleasure to read!
The story as a whole is a pleasure, actually. Detective fiction and murder mystery fanatics will not be blown away by a diabolically difficult puzzler here, but if you're looking for quality genre fiction set in this time period, I can't recommend Gallows Thief enough!
Gallows Thief follows the beginnings of the post-Napoleonic War career of Captain Rider Sandman, who has been commissioned to investigate a murder. A man has been framed and is condemned to die. Will Sandman find the evidence to save him in time?!
Most of the story takes place in and around Regency London. Cornwell has always excelled at period details and he doesn't falter here. I would say he even exceeds himself this time in the creation of his characters. From guttersnipe to lord, all are brought to life beautifully in character description and colorful dialogue. It's a true pleasure to read!
The story as a whole is a pleasure, actually. Detective fiction and murder mystery fanatics will not be blown away by a diabolically difficult puzzler here, but if you're looking for quality genre fiction set in this time period, I can't recommend Gallows Thief enough!
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Gallows Thief.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
February 4, 2012
– Shelved
July 29, 2018
–
Started Reading
August 1, 2018
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-7 of 7 (7 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Kris
(new)
-
rated it 4 stars
Aug 01, 2018 11:40AM
I highly recommend Cornwell's Azincourt, and anything in his "Grail Quest" series!
reply
|
flag
Kris wrote: "I highly recommend Cornwell's Azincourt, and anything in his "Grail Quest" series!"I liked Azincourt well enough, but haven't tried the Grail stuff. Thanks for the recommendation!
The Grail Quest series is (mostly) set during the 100 Years War, and the key character is a longbow archer like in Azincourt. If you're a Sharpe fan, this is set a bit (quite a bit) earlier.
I read this in the past year and loved it. It could have easily launched another series. I wish there were more!
Patricia wrote: "I read this in the past year and loved it. It could have easily launched another series. I wish there were more!"Yeah, it's definitely set up with series potential. I have a feeling Cornwell just didn't have time. When this came out he was still pumping out his successful Sharpe books. Then when that finally wound down, his Saxon series was picking up steam. Perhaps when that's concluded he'll return to Rider Sandman.
His Fools and Mortals is another so-far-standalone that could launch a series. Its pov/sleuth is Shakespeare's brother.
Patricia wrote: "His Fools and Mortals is another so-far-standalone that could launch a series. Its pov/sleuth is Shakespeare's brother."I've seen that one on the shelves now and then, but I always choose another Sharpe or Saxon book over it. I'll have to give it a shot. Thanks!
