Release Date: 11/08/16
Publisher:
SYNOPSIS:
Dublin, 1899. On a foul night in a troubled city, lawyer Joseph Radcliffe watches the execution of a young Irish rebel. Radcliffe, together with his black American comrade Benjamin Pierce, has made a living defending the toughest cases in Dublin, but is haunted by the spectre of his defeats, the loss of his wife and child and his difficult relationship with his surviving son, Edward. While Ireland smoulders with rebellion, war breaks out in South Africa and when, after an argument with his father, Edward runs away to join the Irish forces fighting there, Radcliffe, accompanied by Pierce, sets out to find him and bring him home.
South Africa, 1900. Both Radcliffe and Pierce have known war. Former cavalrymen in the US army, they have seen enough killing to last them a lifetime. But eight hundred miles north of Cape Town, amid the trackless veld, they experience the bloody brutality of a conflict that the British generals are shocked to discover they are losing. Under fire from Boer snipers and artillery, distrusted by the British forces, the two old soldiers will find their survival skills tested to the hilt as they search for the missing boy in this epic tale of heroism and treachery, love and loyalty.
REVIEW:
I've loved David's Master of War series and to be honest I put off reading this as I worried that I wouldn't like his writing style with more modern weaponry yet when I did eventually pick up this book I have to say that I was more than happy with my reading time.
As with his other work, the writing is sharp, contains some great characterisation, builds upon events in the past as our heroes face their future in the Boer War and helps give this time period a realistic feel to me as a reader.
Back this up with top notch action sequences, more than a few heart in mouth moments, backed with good pace and all round its a series for me to savour with each new offering. Cracking.
Release Date: 08/09/16
Publisher: Head of Zeus
SYNOPSIS:
Tuscany, 1358: Thomas Blackstone has built a formidable reputation in exile, fighting as a mercenary amid the ceaseless internecine warring of Italy's City States. Success has bred many enemies, who will seize any opportunity to destroy the man they cannot overcome on the field.
When a dying man delivers a message recalling Blackstone to England, it seems almost certain to be a trap. Yet Blackstone cannot decline - the summons is apparently from the Queen.
Blackstone will brave the terrors of the High Alps in winter, face the Black Prince in tournament in Windsor, confront the bloody anarchy of a popular revolt in northern France and submit to trial by combat.
And every step of the way, he will be shadowed by a notorious assassin, a killer who has been instructed to inflict the maximum pain on his target before he despatches him to hell.
REVIEW:
To be honest I've loved David's writing since he burst onto the scene with his original title in Master of War. Set during the beginning of the 100 years war the reader is treated to a tale that, if you love authors like Bernard Cornwell, Conn Iggulden or even Simon Scarrow, will become a firm favourite on your shelves.
Back this up with top notch prose, a character who is larger than life who steps from the pages and demonstrates that nobility is more than just being born on silk sheets and all round I was a very happy reader. Add to this the character comes full circle, has grown and been affected by previous choices as well as having an author who delivers not just on action but top notch dialogue and all round its been a pure joy. A cracking series to pick up for that Historical Fiction fan in your life and a gift that they'll reread quite a few times. Magic.
Release Date: 12/02/15
Publisher: Head of Zeus
SYNOPSIS:
FRANCE: 1356. Ten years ago, the greatest army in Christendom was slaughtered at Crecy when Thomas Blackstone and his fellow archers stood their ground and rained death on the steel-clad might of French chivalry. Blackstone left that squalid field a knight. Now, Blackstone commands a war band and has carved out a small fiefdom in northern France. But the wounds of war still bleed and a traitor has given the King of France the means to destroy first his family, and then the English knight himself. As the traitor's net tightens, so the French King's army draws in. Blackstone will stand and fight - in pitched battle and in single combat. He will defy his friends, his family and his king. He may yet defy death, but he can't defy his destiny: BLACKSTONE: MASTER OF WAR.
REVIEW:
The second book from David in his cracking Master of War series and one that I’ve been waiting for for what feels like forever. Not that I’m an impatient reader but when you get treated to a story that really resonates, that gives you a principle hero that you love spending time around as well as a lead character that has to struggle to make his own way in the world all round gives me a book that I just can’t put down.
Yet whilst the first is the announcement, it’s the second that sets the pace for whether a writer can be an author as they have to stick to deadlines and produce a title of the same level of quality as a book that they may have spent years on polishing to within an inch of its life. Here a great many writers fail and sink without a trace but when an author rises, the second novel for me is the one that chooses how far up the TBR pile they start.
For me, David not only matched the quality of the original but for me exceeded it. I loved the way that Thomas carries on growing as the tale unfurls. The supporting cast is crisp and when added to an overall arc that really keeps the story moving at quite a clip, I’m more than a happy reader. Great stuff.
Release Date: 01/08/13
Publisher: Head of Zeus
SYNOPSIS:
England, 1346: For Thomas Blackstone the choice is easy - dance on the end of a rope for a murder he did not commit, or take up his war bow and join the king's invasion of France. As he fights his way across northern France, Blackstone will learn the brutal lessons of war - from the terror and confusion of his first taste of combat, to the savage realities of siege warfare. Vastly outnumbered, Edward III's army will finally confront the armoured might of the French nobility on the field of Crecy. It is a battle that will change the history of warfare, a battle that will change the course of Blackstone's life, a battle that is just the first chapter in a book of legend - Blackstone: Master of War.
REVIEW:
OK, you want a book set during the hundred years war. You want a hero of the people, a man who whilst facing the bleakest of times fights to keep his ideal’s in the face of the enemy and of course a man who has to overcome a great deal to make his own way in the world. So what are you going to do?
Well to be blunt here, if you only read one historical debut this year, make it this one. The prose is sharper than a bodkin arrow, the pace faster than thought and to be honest it was a book that I just couldn’t put down without being left to wonder what was next for the lead hero. The author has not only brought the time to life but also managed to give me a lead character that I not only want to spend time around but is a man of the people, coming from common stock with his skills taking him higher.
Add to this a great story arc, wonderful twists and of course the set up for future instalments all round make this a title that not only launched over a thousand arrows but I’m sure will launch David Gilman to a ravenous reading public to sate their historical fiction action needs. Great stuff.
Release Date: 11/08/16
