Customs officers board a galley in a harbor and overpower its guards. In the hold they find oil and silver, and a naked boy chained to the bulkhead. The officers break the boy's chains to rescue him, but he escapes.... Duke Alonzo commands the seas, taxes his colonies, and, like every duke before him, fears assassins better than his own. In a side chapel, Alonzo's 13-year old cousin prays for deliverance from her forced marriage. When Moorish pirates break in to steal a chalice, they kidnap her and demand ransom from the Duke. As day dawns, Marco, the Duke's chief assassin, prepares to kill the man who let in the pirates. Having cut the traitor's throat, he turns back, and finds a stranger crouched over the man, drinking blood from the wound. The speed with which the boy dodges a dagger and scales a pillar stuns Marco, and the assassin knows he has to find the boy - he's finally found what he thought he would never find. Someone fit to be his apprentice.
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"Almost done. It's not an easy read, but not because it's bad. The language and writing style are not easy to read. I have to read a few sentences a couple of times to understand what is being said. One could say it is pretentious while another might say it is cerebral." — Rachael (4 out of 5 stars)
"Almost done. It's not an easy read, but not because it's bad. The language and writing style are not easy to read. I have to read a few sentences a couple of times to understand what is being said. One could say it is pretentious while another might say it is cerebral."
" Venice, 1400's, Vampires, werewolfs and who know what else .... "
" I started reading this and couldn't finish it... it manages to be a boring "action" book. "
" slow getting into it, but turned out to be pretty enjoyable. will read the sequel. "
" I just could not get hooked by the book. "
" Much duller than usual; and poorly edited. "
" A fun read, if somewhat gruesome at times. One particular scene was so graphic and brutal I ended up skipping a few paragraphs, which is quite unusual for me. On the whole an interesting take on the vampire genre, with a very atmospheric historical settings. "
" A kind of hard read with the many diverges into history and the like. But as a fictional book very enjoyable. "
" There seem to be several plotlines running through this and sometimes it's hard to keep track. But that doesn't detract from the enjoyment of this and Tycho is a suitably interesting character that makes you want to continue with his story. "
" I like stories set in 15th and 16th century Venice such as Mercedes Lackey's "The Shadow of the Lion". "
" Read from 1/14 - 1/16. Read as an advance copy. "
" Did not finish. It's like the author decided it would be okay to just write every second sentence. It was patchy and very hard to follow what was going on. "
" I can tolerate constant, graphic sexualized violence if it has some point. I might also let it pass if it rounded out an actual good novel. Theres nothing here under the rapes and the murders and the excrement. Characters are flat, plot is boring and incomprehensible, writing bland. "
" A fascinating and incredibly brutal tale of alternate reality 15th century Venice, and a mysterious young man caught up in political intrigue and assassination plots. "
" i found this book very intriguing. definitly violent. interesting. yes, i want to read the next one. "
" Dark, gritty, compelling, blood-soaked and, at some times confusing. A interesting book, a new take on the Vampire mythos.Looking forward to the next book :) "
" Read to p. 56. I'm not sure what I expected. A little hard to follow and get into. I think I'll go look for some of this author's earlier works and start there instead. "
Jon Courtenay Grimwood lives in England. The third book in his acclaimed Arabesk series Felaheen won the 2003 British Science Fiction Association Award, appeared on Locus Magazine’s 2003 Recommended Reading List, and appeared on SFSite’s Best of 2003 list.
Dan John Miller is an American actor and musician. In the Oscar-winning Walk the Line, he starred as Johnny Cash’s guitarist and best friend, Luther Perkins, and has also appeared in George Clooney’s Leatherheads and My One and Only, with Renée Zellweger. An award-winning audiobook narrator, he has garnered multiple Audie Award nominations, has twice been named a Best Voice by AudioFile magazine, and has received several AudioFile Earphones Awards and a Listen-Up Award from Publishers Weekly.
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