C.S. QuinnBesprekingen
Auteur van The Thief Taker
Besprekingen
The thief taker door C. S. Quinn
Great short read to past the time while my son was at practice. Looking forward to reading the next book.
I was hoping for more of a murder mystery but instead this was more of a thriller, not a genre I am particularly interested in. It might have been more interesting if I had read the previous two books in the series to get more of a background on the characters.
A NetGalley Book
And oh, my poor, mistreated French Revolution, what have they done to you? The whole plot is set in 1789, just after the fall of the Bastille, and already the Revolution is at full force. What exactly is Attica - the 'Scarlet Pimpernel' - saving people from, with the monarchy still in place and the guillotine yet to be invented? Quinn also accelerates the fashion 'for floating gauzy things with ribbons' - her words - by about eight years, and imagines that stays are no longer worn. I mean, I know Orczy played fast and lose with the timeline, but at least she was only one year out. With cameos from La Fayette (yay!), Robespierre and Marie Antoinette (boo!), and great chunks of exposition like ‘Those are the official bedchambers,’ I say. ‘For the King and Queen. They act more like meeting rooms than private bedrooms. Very public places’, this is just another F-Rev adventure by numbers.
But then, the characters act and talk like modern time travellers transplanted to a key point in French history, so I don't know why I was expecting detailed research. If you take the heroine from Du Maurier's Frenchman's Creek, or a Gainsborough Pictures film, and then make her bisexual and biracial for reasons, you get Attica Morgan. And don't even get me started on the Irish-American pirate, so he is.
I know I'm taking this way too seriously but COME ON - pick a trope, don't use all of them at once!
I loved the first book in the series, The Bastille Spy, so I was looking forward very much to reading The Scarlet Code. I’m pleased to announce It didn’t disappoint! It’s another fabulous adventure story and took me on another rollercoaster of a ride. It’s fast paced and action packed and I just love the characters of Attica and Jemmy. They make a great intrepid duo. Historical fact is combined with fiction making it a well researched piece of writing. It’s beautifully written with a smattering of humour. There is a good sense of time and place as there was in the first book, I almost felt I was there. The mob’s anger as they stormed Versailles was palpable. Scary times!
A fun and entertaining read which had me gripped until the end. Highly recommended for all those swashbuckling thriller fans out there!
The narrator was very good
The story was good and brought to life the horrors of the 17th century
This was a breath of fresh air in that, to my mind, this is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously. The plot is fast and jumps from exciting scene to exciting scene. It never seems that the story is too serious and I found it a fun read. Whether or not that was the author's intention I do not know but I found this diverting and entertaining!
This is a fun and entertaining read, a real rollercoaster of a ride. It gathers pace and never lets go until the end. I loved the mix of fact and fiction. There’s a great sense of time and place and ‘The Terror’ is vividly described. It’s very well written with some humour thrown in, easy to read and kept me captivated from the first page.
The Bastille Spy is the first in the Revolutionary Spy series and I look forward to reading the sequel. There is more than a hint of James Bond in this story, it’s action packed and full of ‘Q’ worthy gadgets. If you enjoy swashbuckling historical thrillers with a difference, this one’s for you.
Charlie Tuesday makes the acquaintance of Lily Boswell, a gypsy and spy for Amesbury, the day after a small bakery in Pudding Lane has caught fire. Thrown together by necessity and a common cause – to discover more about the Brotherhood of the Sealed Knot – they have to outrun the flames to find the sea chest that holds a secret which could bring down England.
This is the second volume in the Thief Taker series and picks up a few months after the events in The Thief Taker. As the series has at its centre an overarching mystery – that of Charlie Tuesday's parentage and childhood, along with several recurring characters – I definitely would recommend that one reads the series in sequence, as several events will make little sense if one begins the story with the second instalment.
The author incorporates a number of historical figures into the narrative, and very cleverly bases the dangerous secret on a real controversy,
I thought Lily an unusual choice and therefore a good addition to the cast, though it was unfortunate that she was being treated merely as a foil for Charlie for most of the time.
Though I prefer the first volume in the series, the fact that the mystery surrounding Charlie still hasn't been solved in full, and because Lily turns up again in the third instalment, with the possibility of further revelations being made about her, means that I'll definitely be on board again for Dark Stars.
The Fire Catcher picks up where The Thief Taker left off with Charlie trying to find out where he came from & what the key goes to that he has worn around his neck since he was a child. Quinn in both of her books has done a fabulous and very thorough job with the historical detail. I've learned so many little things that I didn't know before about London, the Great Plague, the Great Fire, alchemy and the list goes on. I thought the book was a little long though but she is a really good story teller so you stay pretty engrossed in the plot. It was very enlightening and a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us and Charlie Tuesday next.
**I received this ARC from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Maria is a tough cookie to swallow, honestly. I did not like her character at all, even at the very end. That being said, I think she was written perfectly to accurately reflect the classist attitudes of the time period.
And Thomas - well, Thomas is just the stuff that nightmares are made of, quite frankly. I genuinely hope to never meet a human like him in all of my days.
The story itself is so easy to fall into. There is not a moment of dry writing, or section that is difficult to get through. Many times, I felt like I could not turn the pages fast enough. I was enthralled from the first page to the last. And, interestingly enough, I did not realize that this is the first book in a series! I cannot wait to get my hands on Book #2.
The plague is causing havoc in the city, order is breaking down, and a plague doctor is murdering and plotting with impunity. Those plague doctors were creepy enough with wearing beaked masks; adding one of them in the story as a potential serial killer takes plague nightmares to a whole new level. Charlie is mistakenly identified as the murderer and must avoid the authorities as he works to clear his name, avoid the plague, confront witchcraft, and appease a demanding yet compelling client.
C.S. Quinn is explicit in depiction of the plague's effects. London was grim to live in, and death was torturous. Be warned that Quinn can write effective gross descriptions.
In spite of the odors that I swore that I could smell and the pustules of disease that I could envision, I still viewed this as a book to satisfy imagination and provide diversion. Warning, one of my favorite courses in The Great Courses Plus is the Black Death so my interests should be considered on the warped side.
The narrative contains scenes of political intrigue, mystery, witchcraft, gambling and prostitution. At first I was going to rate The Thief Taker with 3 stars because there are a lot of handy coincidences, but I did enjoy the pace of the action and the immersion into another time so I'm awarding it 4 stars. Consider this book if you're looking for a plot that is fast paced.
This was a very interesting book. I was caught up in it right away. I have a morbid interests in plagues so the description for this book had me hooked before I even started it. Now I can’t speak to the validity of the historical details, but on the whole, it was an entertaining fiction.
Charlie Tuesday is a great character. He’s got this dodgy past that’s hinted at throughout the tale, though we learn more of it by the end. While he’s definitely interested in making enough to keep himself fed and housed, he’s also got a moral compass. When he sees what was done to Marie’s sister, he can’t walk away. There are certain details that lead him to believe that her death is not an isolated murder. Someone walks the streets of London dressed as a plague doctor killing people.
Enter the witchcraft aspect. Now I could have used a little more here, but it was still used well to build suspense and provide that sense of the forbidden. Charlie could end up in dire straights indeed if he is arrested for witchcraft!
Then we have Marie. I liked her well enough at the beginning. She had her own motivations and made some tough decisions. Then she gets wrapped up with Charlie and much of her time is spent being the comedic relief or the damsel in distress. I would have enjoyed her character more if she had kept on her initial character arc.
All told, it was a chilling tale of plague, murder, and witchcraft. I look forward to exploring the rest of the series.
I listened to this audiobook through Kindle Unlimited.
The Narration: Napoleon Ryan did a really good job as Charlie Tuesday. I’m not an expert on the various English accents, but I feel Ryan did a good job, keeping all the characters distinct. I also thought his female voices were well done.
London, 1663. Charlie Tuesday, the well-known thief taker, has been called to a gruesome murder of a housemaid in Bethnal Green. The maid's employer, Mr Fitzgilbert, insists that whoever took the girl's silver thimble has to be her killer and that his wife, accused of witchcraft because of her strange fits, is innocent. Together with his friend John Smith Charlie must find the killer before Elizabeth Fitzgilbert burns at Tyburn.
I mistakenly bought this short story in the belief that it bridges volumes 1 and 2 in the Thief Taker series, when it is in fact a prequel, set a couple of years before the events in The Thief Taker. As such, it is a run-of-the-mill historical whodunit, which is strong on atmosphere, short as it is, but feels rushed (a little more detail would not have gone amiss) and suffers from a distinct lack of alternative culprits and a lack of editing (I believe that the publisher is a self-publishing platform). It doesn't add anything new to the character of Charlie Tuesday, though the appendix gives readers the opportunity to request a secret scene, not available in print, which promises to shed a bit more light on Charlie's mysterious past.
**I received this ARC from Netgalley & Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
Charlie Tuesday Charlie Tuesday is at it again in Fire Catcher, C.S. Quinn's latest book & follow-up to her first book, The Thief Taker. Charlie is London's best thief taker and he knows a little bit about everything and everybody. He was an orphan, left at the Foundling hospital when he was just a baby so he's learned to survive on London's streets and back allies and he does this all in bare feet! Yep that's right, he runs all around town hunting down criminals, recovering stolen property and stopping plots against the King and the city -with no shoes on! : ) He actually sounds rather fun and charming, like one of those hot dates your parents wouldn't approve of because he's penniless and hasn't finished school yet that is until I think of him running around the city barefoot and then it totally turns me off! : ) Although, the story is set in the 1600's so maybe it was more acceptable then. I would think though that with the widespread plague and the fire burning through the city you would want to have your whole body covered from head-to-toe but what do I know?! LoL Alright enough about Charlie Tuesday, I still love him regardless. He's unique and there is never a dull moment when he's around.
The Fire Catcher picks up where The Thief Taker left off with Charlie trying to find out where he came from & what the key goes to that he has worn around his neck since he was a child. Quinn in both of her books has done a fabulous and very thorough job with the historical detail. I've learned so many little things that I didn't know before about London, the Great Plague, the Great Fire, alchemy and the list goes on. I thought the book was a little long though but she is a really good story teller so you stay pretty engrossed in the plot. It was very enlightening and a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to seeing what she has in store for us and Charlie Tuesday next.
**I received this ARC from NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!
A so called "Plague Doctor" is torturing and killing people and a "Thieftaker" i.e. one who works as a private investigator of the time is comissioned to catch the man.
An exciting story full of atmosphere.
I was given a digital copy of this novel by the publisher via Netgalley in return for an honest unbiased review.
2.5 stars.
The reader gets a real sense for the London streets and times of 1666. I get the feeling the author is intimately familiar with London as a place. She describes street layouts and buildings with incredible detail. Her exploration of the intrigue at Charles II’s court and the inner workings of how alchemy works added to the great world that Quinn built.
I liked her writing style, with shorter chapters and constantly changing POVs. Usually, this would actually irritate me as that format is an easy way to get lost in a deluge of POVs or shifting scenes. Yet, the way the author told her story with near constant action and a limited number of POVs make this format successful here. The shorter chapters kept me moving like crazy as London burned and Charlie and Lily raced towards a confrontation with Blackstone.
Both Charlie and Lily are great leads to tell this story through. They’re gritty, strong, and street-smart. They thought on their feet, which was important as the Great Fire of London was raging and death stalked their steps at every turn. I loved going with them on their journey to find out Charlie’s past, to defeat Blackstone, and learn to trust each other.
The earlier Blackstone chapters, though, threw me for a spin. I felt like I was missing something when they talked about his motivations, Teresa, and the secret rites he did with “his” boys. As I haven’t read the first book, I don’t know if these missing pieces would be present or not. Yet, I was confused more than once in trying to see how this all fit in with the overall story of the book. In the last third, everything made more sense and came together. Yet there are still points mentioned in the Blackstone chapters I don’t see how they worked into the overall storyline.
I’d still recommend this work to lovers of suspenseful adventure tales in historical fiction, despite the foggy points in some chapters. Another reader may get those points more than I did. This book still has the great suspense, background, and characters to carry it through and recommend it. I enjoyed the experience of reading it.
Note: Book received for free from publisher via GoodReads giveaway in exchange for honest opinion.
This was a surprisingly accomplished historical thriller, featuring one of the darker episodes in early modern history, and it is the atmospheric and vivid descriptions of the deserted streets, the red plague crosses on doors, the fear of contamination and the desperation in the victims that will linger in the mind the longest. The two main protagonists are likeable and show a satisfying amount of character development, though the romantic subplot got a little distracting at times, while the villain of the piece is portrayed as a surprisingly complex monster. Though the plot twist towards the end of the book was unexpected, I also remain not entirely convinced by it, and there were a few plot and logical inconsistencies (not to mention spelling and grammatical errors) that marred the enjoyment somewhat. I understand that this book was produced on a self-publishing platform, and unfortunately it shows if one notices these things. Nevertheless, this was an enjoyable if occasionally gruesome read that shone some light on a period of history that is often overlooked in favour of flashier episodes, e.g. the Tudors.
The ending doesn't conveniently tidy up all the loose threads, but it can be seen as a stand-alone novel, even though a sequel has already been published (or will be very soon), I believe. I certainly intend to pick up the narrative again, hopefully taking place in another momentous year in London's history.
Charlie Tuesday is a thief taker but, thanks to the plague, there is little call for his work. He now sells forged certificates that allow people passage from the beleaguered city. When he is asked by Maria to discover her sister’s murderer, he at first refuses but, short on funds, he finally agrees. Too late he learns that Maria doesn’t want him to uncover the murderer; she thinks he is the murderer. Now he is on the run with Maria in tow – if he is to prove his own innocence he must catch the real killer. Soon, though, he and Maria find themselves in the midst of a plot to kill the king and they must work together to save England.
I found The Thief Taker by author C.S. Quinn a bit slow going at first. There is a lot going on with many different story threads and, frankly, many of them just didn’t seem to come together. However, that’s not to say there wasn’t a lot to like here. Charlie is a sympathetic character and the portrait of the plague-infested city was both interesting and chilling. I just wish there had been more about the plot against the monarchy, and the reason for the murders that seemed to get short shrift against the flirtatious bickering between Charlie and Maria. But that’s just me and the plague descriptions made up this.
3stars
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