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balthazarlawson's review against another edition
4.0
An interesting historical crime novel set in a debtors prison in 1727. Where life conspires against Tom Hawkins to make it a battle to just survive the day. His only hope of survival and release from the living hell he has found himself in is to discover who murdered a man found hanging in a store room. There is a large mix of characters who are never what they seem and it all makes the task seem impossible.
It's a bit of a slow story in parts but is still enjoyable enough.
It's a bit of a slow story in parts but is still enjoyable enough.
ciaraisabookworm's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
4.25
citrusboombox's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
glowe2's review
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Very good murder mystery set in 18th century England. Crisply written with interesting characters and lots of twists and turns. Well worth reading.
blueskygreentreesyellowsun's review
4.0
Some elements were a little hokey, and some elements truly strained credibility, but the story was fun so I didn't mind.
lian_tanner's review
4.0
Gripping, surprising, horrifying. An extraordinary evocation of the world of the Marshalsea and those unfortunate enough to end up there, plus a twisty puzzle that kept me off balance right to the end. Well worth a read!
a_mae13's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
"There is so much fear in this place sometimes I think it has seeped into the walls." -Tom Hawkins
Though this book has a very slow start in my opinion, when it gets going it really picks up. Tom Hawkins in staying at the Marshalsea debtors prison for faulting on debts. He had won all the money back in a gambling game, but he was robbed and sent back to square one. Once he was sent to the Marshalsea, the "devil" of the prison paid for Hawkins to stay on the master side rather than the common side. This is very common for prisons during the age; it was a paid service and if you couldn't pay, you were basically starved to death. Those with money had a bit more leeway in their sentence. Upon his arrival to stay with the devil, Samuel Fleet, Hawkins discovers that Fleets previous roommate was murdered. Hawkins is determined to find out if Fleet was the killer or if something darker was lurking in the Marshalsea. The murderer is just ONE of the SEVERAL twists thrown at you towards the end of the book. I wasn't sure if I liked it until I got to the last section! But the twists were actually unexpected.
FLEET IS ALSO MURDERED AND IT WAS JAKES. This really shocked me because his character managed to be important enough that you remembered him throughout all of the characters that were introduced, but minor enough to not suspect him to be involved. One of the major themes in this book is religion, which again is on brand for the period. Jakes claimed that he wanted to "save Roberts soul" and spare him an eternity in hell. Roberts was said to have "wanted to sell his wife for 10 guineas" and that pushed Jakes to homicidal ideation. He truly thought he was saving Roberts honor and saving the world from "men like Fleet". Jakes is shot down by Kitty, close friend of Fleet and love interest of Hawkins.
HOWEVER this wasn't the only twist. Hawkins becomes sick with gaol fever while visiting the common side and Jakes attempts to kill him and "save him from the madness of the fever" and destroy the only person who knew his deeds. While Hawkins is recovering, he is in a hospital for a week to rid himself of gaol fever. He's told that his love interest, Kitty, was killed by the fever while he was recovering. Naturally, she's still alive and he finds her BUT how does that come to be? CHARLES TOLD HIM THAT. Charles also ARRANGED THE ROBBING TO SEND HAWKINS TO PRISON. That twist really sent me because I expected the murderer to be an unexpected character and as soon as I heard that Kitty was "dead", she wasn't actually dead. </Spoiler>
Though this book has a very slow start in my opinion, when it gets going it really picks up. Tom Hawkins in staying at the Marshalsea debtors prison for faulting on debts. He had won all the money back in a gambling game, but he was robbed and sent back to square one. Once he was sent to the Marshalsea, the "devil" of the prison paid for Hawkins to stay on the master side rather than the common side. This is very common for prisons during the age; it was a paid service and if you couldn't pay, you were basically starved to death. Those with money had a bit more leeway in their sentence. Upon his arrival to stay with the devil, Samuel Fleet, Hawkins discovers that Fleets previous roommate was murdered. Hawkins is determined to find out if Fleet was the killer or if something darker was lurking in the Marshalsea. The murderer is just ONE of the SEVERAL twists thrown at you towards the end of the book. I wasn't sure if I liked it until I got to the last section! But the twists were actually unexpected.
HOWEVER this wasn't the only twist. Hawkins becomes sick with gaol fever while visiting the common side and Jakes attempts to kill him and "save him from the madness of the fever" and destroy the only person who knew his deeds. While Hawkins is recovering, he is in a hospital for a week to rid himself of gaol fever. He's told that his love interest, Kitty, was killed by the fever while he was recovering. Naturally, she's still alive and he finds her BUT how does that come to be? CHARLES TOLD HIM THAT. Charles also ARRANGED THE ROBBING TO SEND HAWKINS TO PRISON. That twist really sent me because I expected the murderer to be an unexpected character and as soon as I heard that Kitty was "dead", she wasn't actually dead. </Spoiler>
lea_talisa's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
kwcook's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ingejanse's review
4.0
Kijk, Antonia Hodgson doet niets nieuws, want je sterft bijna in de historische misdaadromans over Engeland. Maar Hodgson doet binnen dat genre heel veel goed. Tom Hawkins, de hoofdpersoon, is een sympathieke jongen die redelijk begrijpelijk keuzes maakt. Dat is al heel wat, want normaliter zijn het of elitaire klootzakken die je vanaf pagina één haat of onnavolgbare autisten.
De locatie is ook te gek, want de Marshalsea-gevangenis bevat alles wat je nodig hebt: een begrijpelijke locatie, veel variaties in ruimtes en personages, bijna onvoorspelbare wreedheden, en een moois spanningsveld tussen de wereld binnen en buiten de muren, én de wereld tussen de arme en de rijke kant. De grootste aanwinst hierin is Samuel Fleet, een Dr. Hannibal Lector-eske psychopaat die alsnog je hart steelt en enorm tot de verbeelding spreekt. Samen met Tom draagt hij zonder problemen het verhaal.
Hodgson kan bovendien uitstekend schrijven: geen onnodige metaforen (iets waar je in dit genre normaal helemaal gek van wordt), meer dan voldoende details om alles tot leven te laten komen, een vrijwel constant sluitend verhaal, prima dialogen die echt overkomen, en een heel erg prima plot.
Iets te klagen? Absoluut. Op een gegeven moment lijkt iedereen het gedaan te kunnen hebben, waardoor de spanning afneemt en het einde niet meer zo hard verrast als dat je zou willen (want wie had het eigenlijk níet kunnen doen?). Bovendien is niemand wie hij / zij lijkt, waardoor niemand betrouwbaar is en je als lezer een beetje te los wordt gelaten in je whodunnit-gok. Iets meer zekerheid zou dus fijn zijn.
Maar goed. Marshalsea als locatie, de goede schrijfstijl en Samuel Fleet zijn al voldoende voor een heel plezierig boek waar je in een moordtempo (haha) doorheen komt, zonder grote ergenissen of irritante open eindes. Blind gaan lezen als je de verhalen van SJ Parrish tof vindt.
De locatie is ook te gek, want de Marshalsea-gevangenis bevat alles wat je nodig hebt: een begrijpelijke locatie, veel variaties in ruimtes en personages, bijna onvoorspelbare wreedheden, en een moois spanningsveld tussen de wereld binnen en buiten de muren, én de wereld tussen de arme en de rijke kant. De grootste aanwinst hierin is Samuel Fleet, een Dr. Hannibal Lector-eske psychopaat die alsnog je hart steelt en enorm tot de verbeelding spreekt. Samen met Tom draagt hij zonder problemen het verhaal.
Hodgson kan bovendien uitstekend schrijven: geen onnodige metaforen (iets waar je in dit genre normaal helemaal gek van wordt), meer dan voldoende details om alles tot leven te laten komen, een vrijwel constant sluitend verhaal, prima dialogen die echt overkomen, en een heel erg prima plot.
Iets te klagen? Absoluut. Op een gegeven moment lijkt iedereen het gedaan te kunnen hebben, waardoor de spanning afneemt en het einde niet meer zo hard verrast als dat je zou willen (want wie had het eigenlijk níet kunnen doen?). Bovendien is niemand wie hij / zij lijkt, waardoor niemand betrouwbaar is en je als lezer een beetje te los wordt gelaten in je whodunnit-gok. Iets meer zekerheid zou dus fijn zijn.
Maar goed. Marshalsea als locatie, de goede schrijfstijl en Samuel Fleet zijn al voldoende voor een heel plezierig boek waar je in een moordtempo (haha) doorheen komt, zonder grote ergenissen of irritante open eindes. Blind gaan lezen als je de verhalen van SJ Parrish tof vindt.