Tribune: Amazon.ca: Patrick Larkin: Books

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Being a whistleblower is risky business, especially in ancient Rome. Lucius Aurelius Valens, a foot soldier in the Sixth Legion, witnesses a brutal act of carnage and soon becomes convinced that his superior officer is not only looking the other way, but is complicit in the massacre. A man who prizes his honor above all else, Lucius takes matters into his own hands and leads a small band of troops against the marauders, in the process making bitter enemies of virtually every powerful officer in the Roman army. A just and compassionate high-ranking official transfers Lucius to a patrol in Galilee as a means to escape his situation, but Galilee provides problems of its own. There Lucius collides not only with a complex political situation that threatens to bring King Herod's fury down on an entire city, but also with one of the most pivotal people in human history (yes, that Galilean). Larkin's story is ambitious and well plotted, but it moves at a snail's pace and is nearly twice as long as it ought to be. Though the "surprise ending" is no surprise at all, it still manages to wrap up a story that, unfortunately, fails to live up to its fascinating premise.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

Average Customer Review

3.6 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)

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2.0 out of 5 stars A weak attempt to tell a Roman Empire Adventure, Mar 23 2004

By	Durango Kid "Alex" (Bras�lia, DF Brazil) - See all my reviews

'The Tribune' is a weak attempt to tell a story of suspense, mystery, murder and political intrigues with the Roman Empire as a background. Some people - even some critics - commented that this book made for the Roman Empire what 'The Name of The Rose', written by Umberto Eco, made for the Medieval Age. That's really an absurd consideration. In fact, 'The Tribune' is one of these books which offered to its readers a compelling start but by and by the story misses the point and you really feel that the author loses his pace and objective along the way. The plot is developed with a peasant and unsatisfactory twists and turns and, in the end, the outcome proves that Mr. Larkin doesn't know what to do with his own premises. Anyway, if you're not a very critical reader, maybe you can find some amusement with this book. But if you really want to read a good ficcional account of the Roman Empire or some other great Ancient Civilization, I recommend you to take a look at 'The First Man in Rome' by Cullen McCullough or 'Gates of Fire' by Steven Pressfield. Compared with this two titles, I'm sorry to say that 'The Tribune' is just an ordinary stuff.

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2.0 out of 5 stars I came, I saw, I desired a refund, Feb 23 2004

By	Kristin Munson (Wakefield, RI) - See all my reviews

Ah, a bona fide bad book, I was starting to fear that I'd lost my touch for picking the very worst novel on the shelf. First off, the publishers should only be charging half price, as they've very kindly spoiled the first 200 pages for you with their description- and if they can succinctly set up all those plot threads in just a few paragraphs why does it take Larkin so tediously long?

The Tribune leads you to believe it had a lot of story potential at one time, until the author decided to essentially novelize a bad tv movie, complete with requisite character clich�s. It's got blood, sex, swords, and horses and it will still bore you to tears with the relentless predictability that it offers. Will Lucius win over his Celtic troops? Are all characters that disagree with him villains? Will that annoying, precocious kid end up saving the day? Gee, you think?

Most annoying is the overall writing style. Larkin confuses honor with brains and gives Lucius one but not the other, making him righteous but not smart or even remotely likable; the character is incapable of talking about his horse without the preface "My Spanish mare, Dancer", until you start to wonder if he's reminding you or himself. The two big 'surpises' are completely cheesy, with the main villain describing his entire plan in ridiculous detail to the captured hero and then some divine intervention (literally) to get the story out of the dead-end it had been written into; the last two pages should be torn out and destroyed, unread, upon purchase. The dialog and ensuing melodrama of the love story is straight out of a bad bodice ripper and the sex as written would take about a minute and a half in real time, from foreplay to finish; I felt very sorry for the one-dimensional heroine. Battle scenes, ostensibly the whole point of writing military fiction, are confusing messes where you have no sense of where people are, how the terrain is set up, and what exactly is happening.

The Tribune combines the worst bits of its genre and the end result is a bland collage of triteness, with plot twists on par with Scooby-Doo and all the historical accuracy of an episode of Xena: Warrior Princess.

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4.0 out of 5 stars A good story and a fast, enjoyable read., Nov 26 2003

By	James R. Larson (Wind Lake, Wisconsin) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I'm fortunate to have read the novel before reading the reviews. Sometimes too much is given away in reviews and the entire story and plot are blurted out by the reviewing critics. At any rate, The Tribune is an enjoyable, fast moving tale about a man of honor, the Roman Tribune Lucius Aurelius Valens. I thoroughly enjoyed the 392 page novel, especially the ending, and I'd like to see a continuation of the story depicting the times after Valen's discovery. I liked it, 4.5 stars.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable Historical Fiction
I really liked it and am looking forward to the next Patrick Larkin book. Hopefully a sequel!

Published on Oct 17 2003 by K. Pyle

5.0 out of 5 stars The Tribune is a Five Star Page Turner!
I stayed up all night because I couldn't put down this exciting book about the adventures of a Roman Tribune with a complicated conscience. Read more

Published on Oct 11 2003

1.0 out of 5 stars Amateurish and Embarassingly Awful
Patrick Larkin's novel on a Roman equestrian tribune wanting to set things right after witnessing the horrendous murder of several imperial envoys in Judea. Read more

Published on Oct 10 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard to Put Down
From the opening prologue, this book grabs your attention. I'm not really a fan of the Roman period, but I found the book very interesting -- great plot with intriguing... Read more

Published on Sep 15 2003 by Tim Peckinpaugh