13 June 2009

Review: Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell

Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell book coverWell, it was completely unintentional, but it would seem I've read two Cornwell books back to back again, lol!

I really enjoyed the Gallows Thief, although it was similar in style to the Paul Doherty series I read which is also a medieval 'whodunnit'. There were laugh out loud moments within the dialogue, and I would have liked to see the quizzing glass owned by one of the characters.

The race against the clock at the end of the book had me on the edge of my seat (or mattress, as I was reading this in bed), however it was dragged out and slightly annoying given that the ending was a foregone conclusion for the reader with their wits about them.

I found the details about the Newgate prison to be completely fascinating and were based on facts and research carried out by the author.

My rating = ***

Carpe Librum!

Would you like to comment?

  1. Excellent yarn, a real page turner. Its like a detective story set in 1820. Cornwall always bases his novels on good research of the subject matter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, I agree with you about the research he conducts. Glad you liked it too.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your comment, Carpe Librum!