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In an age when human relics exercised great power over the minds of men, Jean Rombaud, Anne Boleyn's executioner, gains the most prized relic of all--Anne's six-fingered hand. With it comes a vow to the dead queen that he spends terrible effort trying to fulfill. A high-energy, highly theatrical tale, C.C. Humphrey's
The French Executioner spans 16th-century Europe from England to Italy, Germany, and France. Jean, with the staunch heart of an old-fashioned superhero and a dangerous square-edged sword, receives loyal assistance from a cast of heroic characters: Haakon, an axe-wielding Norseman; the Fugger, a reformed midden-keeper; Januc, a Croatian mercenary; and, most importantly, Beck, a mysterious, dangerous Jew. Evil comes in the thoroughly treacherous form of the Archbishop of Siena, who has need of the famous hand for his nefarious experiments in alchemy. Scenes of Siena's Palio horse race are a highlight. This swashbuckling adventure tale has all the dubious coincidence typical of the genre as well as numerous fight scenes described in astonishing detail--what else would you expect from an author described as "a schoolboy fencing champion and fight choreographer"?
--Mark Frutkin
--This text refers to the
Loose Leaf
edition.
The pursuit of Anne Boleyn's severed, six-fingered hand, a talisman with magic power, spurs the action in this historical romance, set in the days of Henry VIII. The various warriors, corrupt church fathers, Vikings, alchemists, comic sidekicks, and sullied noblemen vie for the prize between carefully orchestrated orgies, sea battles, enslavements, brawls, hangings, chases, and liaisons. An actor as well as writer, the author reads well enough, though for this reviewer's taste his repetitious cadences are annoying. Y.R. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine--
Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
de C.C. Humphreys
de C. C. Humphreys
de C C Humphreys
de Jack Whyte
