The Gladiator

Macro, Cato and his girlfriend, Julia, along with her father, Sempronius, are on their way back to Rome by sea.  While just off of Crete, the island is struck by an earthquake and a tsunami fast approaches.  The friends manage to tie themselves to the mast before the huge wave strikes the ship.  Unfortunately Cato is swept overboard.  Fortuna is with Cato and he manages to make back to the stricken ship where his friends are frantically working to keep it afloat with others who survived.

The ship limps into the port of Matala to find a scene of devastation.  Sempronius takes charge in Matala and assigns Macro to restore order to the community.  He then heads off to Gortyna wit Cato to check on the condition of the governor.  On their way, they discover that the slaves on the island have begun to revolt.  Finding the governor in bad shape, Sempronius takes control of the province.

Macro has his hands full with the population of Matala.  How will he manage to feed them?  The food stores had been damaged by the tsunami.  While returning with a supply of food, Macro's column is attacked by an organised group of slaves.  Macro is sure that the leader recognised him.  Fortunately before the slaves can overrun the column, Cato shows up with a regiment of cavalry.  Macro and Cato think the leader might have been a gladiator.

Cato returns to Gortyna with Macro and Julia where they find things in better order.  However, Sempronius is at odds with Glabius, a tax collector, with whom he must share rulership of Crete.  Glabius has personal bodyguards and control of the food supply, while Sempronius has the army under his mandate.  Sempronius decides to take complete control by ruse.

However, as Cato knows, the gladiator is still at large.  Sempronius decides to send Cato to Egypt to request more troops to put down the slave rebellion.  Would there be enough time?  Sempronius and Macro are shocked when the slave army surrounds Gortyna and they are informed that the people of Matala have been massacred.  Will Cato and the legions from Egypt arrive in time to save Gortyna and the people inside?

Author Simon Scarrow has plenty of exciting action remaining for the reader.  Once engrossed in this historical novel, you will find it hard to put down.  I am looking forward to the sequel.

Raven Black

The body of a young woman has been dumped in the snow on the island of Shetland.  Inspector Jimmy Perez is directed to the home of Magnus Tait with whom the girl had recently been seen.  Magnus lives alone and is not a strong minded individual.  Perez tries to find out more information from other, too about the girl while they await the CID team from Inverness.

Many in the community blame Magnus.  They believe that he had killed a girl sometime earlier, even though no body had been found.  However, Perez isn't one to make judgments so quickly.  He is impressed with the team that has been sent in from Inverness to lead the investigation.

Later, the woman who found the victim, is out walking with her new dog, when it discovers the body of the little girl who had been missing for years.  The peat has perfectly preserved the body.  This time Magnus is taken in for questioning.  He admits to taking ribbons from the girl, but she was already dead, then.  The police are sure that they have their man.

Shortly after this, the father of the first victim tells Perez that her video camera is missing, along with the disc that she had been editing her film on.  Could the killer   have used her keys to get into the house?

Following this, the daughter of the woman who had found both bodies goes missing.  The name of each of the girls started with a 'C'; coincidence?

Author Ann Cleeves is a new author for me; she has written a murder mystery full of plot twists, and she hints at several different suspects.  The reader is in for some surprises.  Definitely a good read, and I'm looking forward to the sequels.

Under Siege

While returning to his unit, Captain Daniel Rawson encounters a soldier attempting to rape a young woman.  He immediately comes to her aid, but in doing so has made a mortal enemy.  She has promised to help him in any way that she can.  Afterwards, Marlborough assigns Daniel the task of spying inside Lille, which the allied army is about to set siege to.  He convinces the woman, Rachel Rees, to pretend to be his wife for this sortee.

The trip into Lille is a success, until they attempt to leave.  Rachel is arrested while Daniel is allowed to leave.  Having made his report, Daniel plans on returning to free Rachel.  Along with his friend Sergeant Walbeck, Daniel heads off to Lille to free Rachel.

Meanwhile, in England, Daniel's girlfriend has been informed of his death.  The man who informed her actually wants her for himself.  Amalia is unable to believe that Daniel is dead.  The man wanting Amalia has sent a man to France to ensure that Daniel does die.

Will Daniel be able to survive the assassination attempt, and will Amalia be able to put off the man who desires her?  Author Edward Marston has written a fast paced novel of war and love.  A good, quick read.

Rogue Heroes

Lieutenant David Stirling was the man behind the idea of the Special Air Service.  Wealthy and headstrong, Stirling didn't seem to be the military type.  Having volunteered for the commandos, he was frustrated by their lack of action when sent to the Middle East.  Having met fellow commando, Lieutenant Jock Lewes, who was also fretting at the lack of action, the pair decided to try parachuting in preparation for possibly doing that behind enemy lines.  Unfortunately for Stirling, his parachute snagged on the tail of the plane and he plummeted to the ground.  It was while he was convalescing in hospital that the idea of a special group of small hit and run units behind enemy lines developed.  Now, all he had to do was convince the senior officers that his plan was feasible.

Stirling's first recruit was Lewes, although it was a hard task to convince him to join.  Lewes would be responsible for the training of the recruits.  It would be a very tough regimen.  Lewes would also devise a time bomb, which would be perfect for raiding purposes. However, the first mission was a complete debacle due to wind and rain.  What would be the future of the SAS now?

Stirling feeling that parachuting was not suitable proposed using the Long Range Desert Group to provide transportation for the SAS.  They set up headquarters in the desert to the south of the enemy's lines.  The next raid on three different enemy airports was extremely successful.  The SAS would raid again!  Sadly Jock Lewes would be killed in one of these raids.

Injuries suffered by his men caused Stirling to realise that his unit needed its own doctor.  Dr. Malcolm Pleydell arrived just as the SAS was preparing for its next major series of attacks.  He was totally unprepared for the men he met.

Although the aforementioned attacks would relieve some of the pressure on Malta, it didn't stop the Germans and Italians from going on a major offensive, which sent the British reeling in retreat.  However, this extended Rommel's supply lines, much to the delight of the SAS.  It was now an independent, self-sufficient unit.  It wasn't long before the commandos developed a reputation on both sides of the line.

A later meeting between Stirling and Winston Churchill ensured the continued existence of the SAS.  Unfortunately, the next action was a botched affair because the powers that be decided a larger attacking force would be better, which was contrary to the SAS philosophy.  However, after the action the SAS was raised to full regimental status.

The unit began to suffer more and more casualties because of a stool pigeon in their midst.  Stirling would end up being captured.  However, that was not the end of the SAS.  A second regiment would be formed, and they would move on to fight in Europe.  The SAS would lead the invasion of Sicily.

Because of the actions of the commandos, Hitler ordered that any captured were to be immediately executed.  Prior to D-Day, a number of SAS troops were parachuted behind enemy lines to work with local resistance groups.  There would be both success and disappointments.

The SAS was disbanded in October 1945 because the powers that be deemed that nuclear weapons would be the way wars would be fought in the future.  However, it wasn't long into the Cold War before the SAS was reformed.  Many current special forces throughout the world would be based on the SAS.

Author Ben MacIntyre has brought to light the secret world of the SAS' formation and many of its accomplishments.  Well written and well worth the read for a fan of military history.

Jack, Knave and Fool

While at a concert, also attended by Sir John Fielding, his wife and their wards, Annie Oakum and Jeremy Proctor, a lord suddenly collapses.  The lord had been swigging from a wine bottle during the concert, but when Jeremy looks for it, the bottle seems to have disappeared.  Has the lord been poisoned?

The following day, Jeremy loses a prisoner he is escorting to the Lord Chief Justice.  Upon arrival at the place where he was taken, he finds out that the man was a bit of a scoundrel, having possibly stolen a valuable vase while working there.  Sir John is sure that there is more to the man's escape than it appears.  It isn't long afterwards that Jeremy discovers that the escapee has a daughter and she is living in constrained circumstances.  Sir John's wife takes an interest in her and provides a cape for the girl.  Knowing that the girl likes to read, Jeremy gives her a book from his own collection.

Meanwhile, Jeremy is dealing with another issue.  A head without a body had been pulled from a sewer.  Jeremy's friend, Bunkins is sure he knows who it is.  When the pair of them go to the pawnshop of supposed victim, a young woman is working there; someone that Bunkins doesn't recognise.

Eight days after the death of the first victim, his wife dies in similar circumstances.  Was she also poisoned?  Dr. Donnelly is asked to perform an autopsy before an inquest is held.  The coroner directs a conclusion of death by natural causes.

The Fielding household is put into a bit of turmoil when Lady Fielding and Jeremy return to the lodging of the girl to whom they had given the cape.  She is suffering from pneumonia, so Lady Fielding orders that she be taken to their home to recover.

The ensuing pages are filled with treachery and murder as Sir John Fielding and Jeremy work to determining who the killers were.  Once again, author Bruce Alexander has written an engaging murder mystery, which has left me wanting to pick up the sequel.

Kydd

Britain has just declared war on revolutionary France.  The Royal Navy needs men for its ships.  Thomas Kydd is amongst those pressed into service.  He is hauled off for service on the Duke William.  It doesn't take long for him to find out that life on board a navy ship is both brutal and demanding.  The first day is spent learning the ropes and parts of the ship.  His crew mate, Joe Bowyer takes him under his wing and begins to teach him his new jobs and the layout of the ship.  Unfortunately Kydd has a run in with petty officer Elkins, who seems determined to make his life hell.

Right after arriving in Portsmouth, the captain informs the crew that they will be sailing immediately once provisions are loaded on.  There is to be no shore leave.  He then informs the crew that he has been recalled to London and First Lieutenant Tyrell will be in charge.  The crew is mutinous.  The marines on board put thoughts of mutiny from action, but not mind.  The following day, Kydd sees the use of the cat of nine tails used to punish a man for fighting.  Tyrell is not going to allow anyone to challenge his authority.

Kydd's education comes thanks to Bowyer; how to climb up the ropes and how to tie knots.  The pace of his education quickens as the ship leaves the port.  The first day out, the captain begins training the crew on the guns.  The lessons continue when a gale comes out of the west.  Later, Kydd loses his good friend, Bowyer to an accident.  However, he discovers a new friend in Nicholas Renzi.

Adventures galore plus more education await Kydd and his friends in this naval novel.  A rollicking good read, however many of the naval terms used left this landlubber wondering what was meant.  I do look forward to reading the sequels in this series.

A Terrible Beauty

Detective Superintendent Katie Maguire has been called out to a farm where the skeletons of several people have been discovered where a new foundation is being excavated.  The pathology team discover something weird, a doll-like figure attached to the thigh bones.  Is it a mass execution or individual burials?  And, why are the bones all jumbled about?

Dr. Reidy, the pathologist, informs Maguire that the bones have been buried for quite some time.  They are all female and the flesh was scraped off of the bones.  Does this suggest cannibalism?  Possibly.

Maguire is given an oral history of the killings which occurred back just prior to the Easter Uprising.  She sets DI Liam Fennessy to researching the missing women and also checking if they might have any living relatives for DNA comparisons.  Further research points to an ancient cult.  Despite being told that the case is shelved due to its age, and being handed another more current one to attend to, Maguire continues to work on the case.

It isn't long after this that the same farmer makes a grisly discovery.  A body that has been mutilated in the same manner, with body parts being attacked by crows.  It doesn't take long to identify the victim, and her track through Ireland up until she disappeared.  Now to find the killer.

Seemingly to have caught the killer, Maguire is hesitant to announce that they have him when another girl goes missing.

Author Graham Masterton has written an horrifying murder mystery.  Just when you think you know who the killer is, another potential suspect is presented.  I had selected this book on the basis of it being a murder mystery, but after reading it, I realise that it really is a book of the horror genre.  This is not a book for the squeamish.