Users Product Reviews: |
Product Review Summary: Solid political mystery This is a mystery, fairly east to read, with a few exotic twists arising from Roman-Parthian relations. If you like Lindsay Davis, you will like this, unless you are particularly attached to the personality of Falco.
Wishart's series centers around Marcus Corvinus, who is a semi-black sheep son of a politician father. He likes wine, and is generally not too responsible. He has a relationship with his wife Perilla that is vaguely Thin Man like. She is, of course, the cultured and intellectual member of the duo. Their attitudes often seem modern, rather than Roman. I find Marcus Corvinus more to my taste than Falco, but his sexual politics are slightly incorrect by modern standards {not nearly as incorrect in some respects as authentic Roman attitudes would be, of course}. Others may disagree.
That said, the books in the series are well plotted and funny. So I strongly recommend David Wishart's series as light reading for those with an interest in Roman history and politics.
Product Review Summary: Not a shot in the dark Of the three Corvinus novels I've read thus far, this one is by far the more interesting in that it imagines as well as captures the time quite well.
In addition, the presumed geopolitical machinations of Romans and Parthians in the first century appear no different though far more interestingly imagined then our own present realities for sure.
Also, Wishart's wit, wisdom and colloquial speech are refreshing considering the often stilted language imagined for Romans in other novels.
The other two works, were Ovid (a nice introduction to Wishart) and White Murder (a bit long but more witty then these).
Product Review Summary: Okay, but not so hot This book is better than anything written by Marilyn Todd, but truly, that's damning it with faint praise. The historical aspect about Parthia is fun to read, the plotting and intrigue is good, and there are some notably interesting characters- i.e. Prince Phraates, an aged but charming courtier who is jockeying to be the next Great King of the Parthian Empire. Not surprisingly, he is far more interesting than our hero, a reliable but unreflective patrician investigator named Marcus Corvinus. After finishing the book, my overwhelming feeling was- "so what?" There wasn't any character development on the part of the hero, and all the singularly pointless intriguing and backstabbing had even less impact than an episode of "CSI." Also, all the British and American slang that peppered the text was extremely irritating. I cannot count how many times I read "okay," "cathouse," "yeah," "kid," and "what the f---", as well as other beauts like, "tap-dancing" and "klatsch." I'm not asking for "thees" and "thous" and other archaic lingo in my historical fiction, but it's hard to get into the mood of a period piece when the characters sound like they're on the verge of saying, "Yo homes, dig this new iPod I got at the Apple store near the Circus Maximus!" It's just lazy writing.
In any case, I'm going to pass on reading any further books by David Wishart. If anyone has a higher tolerance level than me for postmodern vernacular in a story set 2000 years ago, then they should go right ahead and read "Parthian Shot." However, next time I'm going to stick to Steven Saylor.
Product Review Summary: Not so good I have tried three books by this author, and I give up. the overuse of American slang is just aggrevating to read. If he had used more modern Italina slang I could cope. Poor story line, no mystery at all. I am going back to Saylor and Davis for better writing.
Product Review Summary: Twists and turns of plot mark a fast-paced mystery David Wishart's fine Marcus Corvinus mystery is set in early Rome and provides an excellent historical mystery revolving around politics and intrigue. Marcus hates politics but becomes unwillingly involved when his latest investigation proves the attack on Parthian Price Phraates. Twists and turns of plot mark a fast-paced mystery.
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