Hist Fic Saturday ~ Blood's Game by Angus Donald

On Hist Fic Saturday

Let's go back to .....Restoration England and London 1670

Zaffre
September 2017

I think most of us have heard the story, and marveled at the audacity of Captain Thomas Blood, the man, who in 1671, stole the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. And whilst I knew the vague details of the story, I wasn't aware that Thomas Blood had in fact been captured, imprisoned and then by some sheer twist of fate, had not only been freed without trial, but had been granted a generous gift of lands by the gracious permission of King Charles II. This novel explains , perhaps, just how this all came about...

Blood's Game is a real romp into Restoration England. All of its glorious bawdiness comes alive with descriptions of the King's court, his amorous exploits, and the schemes and machinations of unscrupulous individuals. Into this scheming hotchpotch comes Holcroft Blood, Thomas Blood's youngest son, who has real flair for doing things in a quite unusual way. Holcroft becomes enmeshed in the plots and schemes of the notorious, Duke of Buckingham, and learns of information which will ultimately make or break those dearest to him.

The author writes with skill and understanding, and brings to life his characters, both real and imaginary with such  a fine eye for detail, that I felt like I was a fly on the wall and observing events first hand. Even the notorious criminal, Thomas Blood comes across as a rather likeable rogue and I couldn't help but be drawn into his story, which is regaled with great gusto. Holcroft Blood is rather the hero of the story and I thought that his character, and his rather special personality, was handled with sensitivity, and yet totally in keeping with the time in which he lived.

Blood's Game is the start of  a new series for this talented writer, who in his previous novels gave us the excellent series about Robin Hood. Moving forward by several hundred years now gives the author scope to take his historical fiction into a new direction. I can't wait to see where the next book takes us.

About the Author

You can read a guest post by the author explaining the background to Blood's Game by clicking here.

Follow on Twitter @angus_donald #BloodsGame


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Huge thanks to the author for sharing his work with me and also to Emily at Bonnier Zaffre for sending a copy of Blood's Game to me .

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