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A Novel of Tudor Intrigue
by Rory Clements
In his critically acclaimed debut thriller, Martyr, Rory Clements introduced readers to the unforgettable John Shakespeare, chief intelligencer to Queen Elizabeth I and older brother to Will.
Now, five years later, the Queen needs Shakespeare's services once more. Not only is England still at war with Spain, but her court is riven by savage infighting among ambitious young courtiers.
Shakespeare is summoned by Elizabeth's cold but deadly Privy Councillor Sir Robert Cecil and ordered to undertake two linked missions: to investigate the mystery of the doomed Roanoke colony in North America - Sir Walter Ralegh's folly - and to spy on Cecil's rival, the dashing Earl of Essex.
Essex is the brightest star in the firmament, the Queen's favorite. But when Shakespeare enters Essex's dissolute world, he discovers not only that the Queen herself is in danger, but that he and his family are also targets. With a plague devastating the country, Catholics facing persecution and martyrdom at the hands of an infamous torturer, and John's own wife, Catherine, possibly protecting a priest - Shakespeare has his own survival to secure, as well as that of his fading but still feisty Queen.
"Starred Review. Clements presents an intricate web of plots and subplots while vividly evoking the tenor of the times." - Publishers Weekly
"Readers can almost hear the clamor of London, smell its stench, and feel the muck on their shoes as they follow Shakespeare on the trail of skullduggery and high treason...This well-told tale will not disappoint." - Library Journal
"A historical thriller to send a shiver down your spine." - Daily Mail (U.K.)
"Marvellous." - The Telegraph (UK)
"High adventure has never been more exciting." - Steve Craggs, The Northern Echo
This information about Revenger was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
After a career in national newspapers, Rory Clements now lives in a seventeenth-century farmhouse in Norfolk, England, and writes full-time. When not immersing himself in the Elizabethan world, he enjoys village life and a game of tennis with friends. He is married to the artist Naomi Clements-Wright. For more information, visit his website at http://www.roryclements.com/.
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"Of all the stories that argue and speculate about Shakespeare's life … here is a novel … so gorgeously written that it transports you." —The Boston Globe
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