It
is 1536 and the expert swordsman Jean Rombaud has been brought over from
France by Henry VIII to behead his wife, Anne Boleyn. But on the eve
of her execution Rombaud swears a vow to the ill-fated queen - to bury
her six-fingered hand, symbol of her rumoured witchery, at a sacred
crossroads. Yet in a Europe ravaged by religious war, the hand of this
infamous Protestant icon is so powerful a relic that many will kill for
it... From a battle between slave galleys to a Black Mass in a dungeon,
through the hallucinations of St Anthony's Fire to the fortress of an
apocalyptic Messiah, Jean seeks to honour his vow.
C.C.
Humphreys was born in Toronto, Canada, and grew up in Los Angeles and
London. A third generation actor and writer on both sides of his family,
he returned to Canada in the nineties and there his writing career
began. He won the inaugural playwriting competition of the New Play
Centre, Vancouver with his first play, 'A Cage Without Bars' which was
produced in Vancouver and London. He was a schoolboy fencing champion,
became a fight choreographer and thus turned his love of swashbuckling
towards historical fiction. He is married and lives in Finchley, North
London.
My Thoughts:
I am a huge Tudor fan and I was thrilled to be asked to read and review this book. It started out really interesting, not your typical Anne Boleyn book. This book is about the swordsman who killed Anne not really about her, and the desire for her hand because it is believed to have six fingers on it.
For me, this book has to be one of the worst books I've read, and I have read a lot of books. The ridiculous sexual references were not needed in my opinion, an entire chapter devoted to "Orgies" with reference to Sodom and Gomorrah sealed the deal for me!
All in all this was a waste of my time. I do not recommend it!!
No comments:
Post a Comment