Alexandria Poulain has just completed a review of Roman Games.
---
Summary
Full Review
This review will appear on November 22, 2010 at
http://brazenbroadsbookbash.blogspot.com/
One of the emperor's main snitches is dead--murdered--and Domitian wants to know who to kill for the crime. While he may choose many men of the Senate who had served with Verpa to investigate the crime, he chooses Pliny The Younger to conduct the investigation, despite the fact that he's not a trained crime investigator but a vice prefect. Pliny is a man who has spent his adult life dealing with the law, but he's more of a probate lawyer than any policeman. But he's got a lot of people to suspect: Verpa was disliked by many, including his concubine, fellow senators, his slaves, and even his son, who like all Roman males from good families stood to inherit a fortune when his father died.
Roman Games, by Bruce MacBain, is an interesting story about life in Roman times. His descriptions make the reader feel like they can imagine being in Rome during the rule of Domitian. In addition, the story is full of well-written characters. Pliny transforms from a bookish man of the law to a man bent on finding the murderer and exposing the reasons for the crime. What he finds in his investigation is not only the motives for Verpa's murder but a conspiracy that stretches all the way to Domitian himself and involves senators, those closest to the emperor, and even the Vestal Virgins. Rome will forever change because of it.
MacBain weaves a tale that stretches from the lowly slaves who tend to every Roman need through the Senate to the seat of power in the Roman empire itself. A murder mystery/detective thriller at its heart, Roman Games has the added layer of life in Rome, which makes it unique and quite interesting.---
Thank you,
The NetGalley Team
www.netgalley.com
No comments:
Post a Comment