The Spy of Venice - Benet Brandreth

Written by Benet Brandreth
Read by Luke Lampard
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 64 Kbps
Unabridged

Series: William Shakespeare Thrillers, Book 1
Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
Release date: 02-21-17
Publisher: Bolinda Publishing Pty Lt

“The Spy of Venice is a playful and inventive debut. The dialogue is wonderful, and Will’s banter with his fellow actors sparkles.” (The Times)

“Entertaining and ebullient…. The author knows his Shakespeare backwards, rejoices in its wordplay, loves his allusions and has a good time with his characters.”

Shakespeare in Love meets C. J. Sansom in a historical thriller with a swashbuckling twist—and a hero as you’ve never seen him before.

August, 1585. England needs its greatest hero to step forward . . .

When he is caught by his wife in one ill-advised seduction too many, young William Shakespeare flees Stratford to seek his fortune. Cast adrift in London, Will falls in with a band of players, but greater men have their eye on this talented young wordsmith. England’s very survival hangs in the balance and Will finds himself dispatched to Venice on a crucial assignment.

Dazzled by the city’s masques and its beauties, he little realizes the peril in which he finds himself. Catholic assassins would stop at nothing to end his mission on the point of their sharpened knives—and lurking in the shadows is a killer as clever as he is cruel.

Suspenseful, seductive, and as sharp as an assassin’s blade, The Spy of Venice introduces a major new literary talent to the genre—thrilling if you’ve never read a word of Shakespeare and sublime if you have.

Between his twins’ baptism in 1585 and his appearance on London theatre records in 1592, William Shakespeare’s life is a mystery. Brandreth’s first novel is an entertaining exploration of what Will might have been doing during those oft-debated seven “lost years.”

After leaving Stratford in a blaze of glory (deflowering a virgin and escaping her irate father), he joins a motley crew of traveling players on a journey to Venice with an English ambassador. Danger stalks Will and his friends as they get caught up in the city’s political/religious intrigue. Sword fights, secret identities, bear baiting, hurled insults, wooing of ladies as well as echoes of the Bard’s future plays are sprinkled throughout this action-packed romp. Female characters are fierce, witty matches for Will, particularly the compelling courtesan Isabella. The concluding plan to ensnare the villain is as intricate and impressive as some of the greatest Shakespearean plots. A historical note details Brandreth’s inspiration and notes that this imagined trip to Italy could explain the 13 plays set there.

VERDICT More historical thriller than mystery, this series opener by the rhetoric coach to the Royal Shakespeare Company is great fun for Shakespeare fans as well as those who enjoy smart language and a grand adventure.