4 and 1 / 2 stars

In a cell a tortured and blind man lies alone. The only companion he has is his cell warder, a very shy and nervous young boy who gives him water, food and empties his chamber pot. The blind man’s name is Nero.

It is now ten years later and a son watches over his father’s empire. We are in Rome and the father is the new emperor. The empire is in unrest, lawlessness reigns, crimes are plenty and unrest is a daily occurrence. Into this situation enters a very wealthy senator and his companion.

This book is very well written. It moves between two time periods and gives an excellent description of both. It is about the unrest and disquiet during the 1st Century. The story is told from varying points of view so that the reader is treated to differing personalities and points of view.

This is a brilliant novel and is suspenseful and gripping. It is fascinating reading. I am not sure how closely the author kept to the “real” story, but this novel makes for very exciting reading.

An aside is this: this is not a one-off novel. It appears to be one of a series of novels about this time period in Roman history. I look forward to reading David Barbaree’s next book in this series.

I want to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre/Twenty7 for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.

I received a free E Arc from Netgalley of this novel.

Wow, what a stunning debut novel.

I've never read any Roman themed novels before the last few weeks, but it would seem that they are both very popular and really rather numerous (I think this is now my sixth or seventh). That said, the books that I've read have, more of less, dealt with similar time periods and events. In the case of this novel, I've not long since read The Young Nero by Elizabeth George which follows Nero through his younger years and this novel seemed quite a perfect follow up.

This novel, however, is far more wickedly complicated and an absolute delight to read. It has a fast pace and is a very easy read. A note for future readers - do take account of the chapter headings - the novel moves through many different points of views and through two different time periods, as well as occasionally going backward in that time period. It sounds complicated, but it's a brilliant way of unravelling the events of the novel.

I think it would be fair to say it's a fairly simple story told in a complicated way - it's about intrigue in the Roman Government during the AD 60's-70's - but it is also so much more than that because of the multiple point of views. This allows the author to decipher events as others see them, with all their attendant prejudices, worries and fears. It is, it must be said, as complex as the House of Cards and as much fun. The portrayal of the corrupt nature of the Roman Government is done very well - I garnered much more from this novel about events in Rome and the wider Roman Empire than I did The Young Nero.

The two timelines, interwoven throughout the novel, eventually offer explanations to the events taking place in the later timeline and while some may find the storyline a little far-fetched, I found it to be told in such a believable way that I had no problem allowing the author to take me down a slightly unconventional route.

My only slight gripe is that I'd assumed this was a standalone novel, and clearly it isn't, which means I'll have to keep my eye out for the next novel because I am incredibly keen to read more about Barbaree's reimagining of Ancient Rome and his Deposed Nero.