The Desperate Remedy

The Conscience of the King

Martin Stephen

Sphere London 2009

stan dobry plus

str. 333

format 11 x 18 cm

waga 330 g

Książka w języku angielskim/The book is in English

The Desperate Remedy

Thief. Informer. Double-dealer. Whoremonger. Drunkard. Gambler. Will Shadwell may not be the most moral of men, but to Henry Gresham - gentleman, scholar, courtier, spy - he is invaluable. For in the dark days of the reign of King James I a man must know his enemies to survive; Shadwell, by hook or more often by crook, is one of his best sources. Then Shadwell is brutally murdered and Gresham is summoned to London by the man he fears most: Robert Cecil, the King's Chief Secretary, and Machiavellian master of a sinister network of spies. Cecil wants Gresham to discover the truth about Sir Francis Bacon's private life, but when Gresham begins his investigations, he finds that he is the one who is being watched... As Gresham continues to do Cecil's bidding with ever increasing trepidation, his enquiries into Shadwell's death uncover a plot so audacious it is scarcely believable: a catholic uprising, a violent insurrection, and a trail of gunpowder underneath the Houses of Parliament...

The Conscience of the King

For hundreds of years historians have argued not only the truth of the Gunpowder Plot, but whether an obscure resident of Stratford-upon-Avon could have written the plays accredited to William Shakespeare. In these two highly acclaimed historical crime thrillers, Martin Stephen combines a top academic's grasp of history with a storyteller's ability to create huge suspense - all this set against a vividly realised background of an England poised between the medieval and modern age. Stephen's books are not just top-class crime adventures, but provide an enthralling vision of history. Nominated for a Golden Dagger award, this is thriller writing at its best.