Dark Fire (Shardlake) [Paperback]

C J Sansom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2005 | Series: Shardlake

It is 1540 and the hottest summer of the sixteenth century. Matthew Shardlake, believing himself out of favour with Thomas Cromwell, is busy trying to maintain his legal practice and keep a low profile. But, his involvement with a murder case, defending a girl accused of brutally murdering her young cousin, brings him once again into contact with the king's chief minister - and a new assignment ...The secret of Greek Fire, the legendary substance with which the Byzantines destroyed the Arab navies, has been lost for centuries. Now, an official of the Court of Augmentations has discovered the formula in the library of a dissolved London monastery. When Shardlake is sent to recover it, he finds the official and his alchemist brother brutally murdered - the formula has disappeared. Now, Shardlake must follow the trail of Greek Fire across Tudor London, while trying at the same time to prove his young client's innocence. But, very soon he discovers nothing is as it seems ...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Matthew Shardlake, the marvelous hunchbacked 16th-century attorney who first appeared in Sansom's Dissolution, returns in this spellbinding Tudor-era tale of murder, conspiracy and betrayal. Shardlake normally handles property cases and the occasional dangerous mission for Lord Thomas Cromwell, the king's high counselor. Now he is engaged to defend a young woman accused of a curious murder, and the case seems hopeless. The girl refuses to speak and, under English law, unless she offers a plea in court she will be slowly crushed to death. Cromwell offers Shardlake a two-week stay of execution if he will agree to undertake a secret mission. Desperate to save the girl's life, Shardlake agrees. Rumors abound of a new and terrifying weapon called Greek Fire, and Cromwell orders Shardlake to find it, along with its secret formula and the two alchemists who possess it. Before Shardlake can even speak to the alchemists, they are brutally murdered, the formula and Greek Fire go missing, and horror and death are unleashed. Fortunately, Shardlake is aided by Jack Barak, a capable rogue working for Cromwell, and his old friend, Guy Malton, a peculiar apothecary. Sansom's vivid portrayal of squalid, stinking, bustling London; the city's wealth and poverty; the brutality and righteousness of religious persecution; and the complexities of English law make this a suspenseful, colorful and compelling tale.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Hunchback Matthew Shardlake may be one of the sharpest lawyers in sixteenth-century England, but his skills have failed him in the defense of a friend's niece accused of murder. When Henry VIII's vicar general, Thomas Cromwell, spares the convicted girl's life for 14 days, Shardlake knows the reprieve comes at a hefty price: in that time, the lawyer must find a lost cache of "dark fire," the liquid weapon of mass destruction Cromwell has promised to deliver to the increasingly ill-tempered king. With the help of one of Cromwell's impudent servants, Shardlake pursues clues leading him to alchemists, aristocrats, and barristers alike. But in a country bitterly split between Roman Catholics and the newly formed Church of England, it's difficult to distinguish friend from foe. The body count climbs ever higher as Shardlake inches closer to the truth--and toward the deadline for his client's execution. Like his gripping debut, Dissolution [BKL Ap 1 03], Sansom's second Shardlake thriller is suffused with rich period detail and an aura of foreboding. Allison Block
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 500 pages
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan (June 3, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0330411977
• ISBN-13: 978-0330411974
• Product Dimensions: 11.8 x 1.2 x 7.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (61 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,185,436 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

75 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Even better than his first book, May 9, 2005

By 

Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dark Fire: A Novel (Hardcover)

I had plans for this weekend. I had household projects to finish, a few errands to run, that sort of thing. None of them were accomplished, because -- for the first time in a long time -- I fell headfirst into a novel and didn't even want to climb out.

Dissolution was a good book, which I thoroughly enjoyed. However, because "murder in a monastary" is a familiar trope, it doesn't have as much of a sense of surprise or historical interest. Or perhaps the author is simply getting better with each book -- which is quite an accomplishment, considering how well he writes now.

Dark Fire succeeds on a number of levels. The protogaonist is interesting, both as a man of his times and an "enlightened" person who considers difficult questions. The writing immerses the reader in the era: not just the intertwined mysteries to be solved, but the smell of the Thames, the desperation of the beggars who once worked for the monastaries, the fascination with the discoveries arriving from the New World. And boy -- did Sansom pick an interesting time to write about, with political and religious upheaval that affected nearly everyone.

Yet, he doesn't let the scenery get in the way of the story. As with most mysteries, it's difficult to discuss the plot without giving it away. I'll just say that it's deliciously complex without being so twisty that you lose track of what's happening.

Great book, in other words. The sort we all love to discover. Highly recommended for anyone who wants a novel to keep your mind engaged without requiring serious scholarship.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Darkly brilliant, February 14, 2005

By 

ilmk "ilmk" (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark Fire: A Novel (Hardcover)

C J Samson's second novel opens three years after the events at Scarnsea and we find our hunched hero, Matthew Shardlake getting involved in a criminal case where Elizabeth Wentworth is accused of the murder of her cousin. The facts are sketchy, Matthew's convinced of her innocence. The only problem is the accused refuses to speak.

Cromwell steps in to gain some time from the accused being peine forte et dure but the cost is Matthew must convince the renegade augmentation clerk, Gristwood to hand over the newly re-discovered formula to greek fire. Which swiftly proves impossible as Matthew and his new side-kick, Barak, find Gristwood dead. What follows are three plots lines as Samson weaves them altogether in a tangle so you're never sure which character is actually associated with which nefarious deed. Matthew rides round London, first on Chancery, then on another steed after Chancery winds up dead after saving Matthew's life, with twelve days to save Elizabeth, find out who is removing his cases from him and discover the whereabouts of the alchemist's formula.

Into the mix Samson stirs the lawyer, Bealknapp, with his unsavoury eye for financial gain, Sir Richard Rich, who is going round converting dissolved monasteries into tenement deathtraps, Lady Honor Vaughan, famous for her sugar parties and eclectic dinner conversation, the overly boorish and ambitious Lord Norfolk, the poorly lineaged but ever-grasping Serjeant Marchamount, and Matthew's master again, Lord Cromwell. Amongst it all a host of supporting characters from the downright nasty Wright and Tokey to the apothecary, Guy (from the first novel) move amongst the slums and mansions of London, from the Thames to the suburbs.

With Barak at his side they race through St Paul's Cathedral, jump walls and climb down wells, leap from burning buildings and dig up corpses as the pair weave through the growing list of murders to find conspiracy at a personal and political level that reaches from the courts to the King.

By the end Matthew has unravelled the mysteries, a new political order is in place and loose ends are tied up as he heads north for a quiet life.

Samson's writing is electric, clearly at the same level as Susanna Gregory as he brings Tudor London to vivid life where its harshly regulated lifestyle of informers and accusors draws the reader into breathing the very dirty air of such a tormented city. The prose is crisp and precise, the characterisation pointed, the plot effusive. Utterly worth reading and hopefully Samson will produce more tales of his put-upon hero for this reader, at least.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, May 19, 2005

By 

K. Huff (Radnor, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Dark Fire: A Novel (Hardcover)

Tudorian England is brought to life in this highly suspenseful novel of murder and mayhem in London.

Its 1540, and King Henry is preparing to divorce his fourth wife, the German Anne of Cleves, and marry "the harlot" Catherine Howard. All of London is on shaky ground, as loyalties shift back and forth. Everyone is concerned that, with Catherine as Queen of England, the country will be returned back to its Catholic past.

Into all this comes Thomas Cromwell, advisor to the king and strongly out of disfavor due to the Cleves marriage. Cromwell feeels that he must get back into the graces of king by digging up Greek Fire- a Weapon of Mass Destruction that could make or break the future of England. He will give the king a demonstration on June 10th- an inocuous day, since it turns out to be the day on which Cromwell is arrested by the king's men. Greek Fire itself, a real substance, was invented by the Byzantines and needs petroleum in order to make it work properly. It is called Dark Fire because the formula is of a black color. The author made up the whole bit about Greek Fire being rediscovered, since there is no way that the English could have known about natural gas in the 16th century. Despite this, this is an excellent read.

Matthew Shardlake is a highly regarded lawyer in the City. On the same day that he is hired to investigate Greek Fire, he is also called to investigate the case of Elizabeth Wentworth, who supposidly pushed her cousin Ralph down a well. The case is a gruesome one; and what is found down at the bottom of the well is not for the sqeemish.

The case of Greek Fire leads Shardlake and his assistant, Barak, to investigate the ruins of the old monasteries, torn down in the eight years since King Henry's break with Rome. In the course of their investigation, they have run-ins with a pock-faced man, a wealthy noblewoman, and the uncle of Catherine Howard. London is detailed in intimate detail, and emphasis is placed upon the lives of ordinary people in 16th-century London. This is an exciting, fast-paced read, good for anyone who likes mysteries and historical fiction. In addition, the author includes a very helpful historical note at the end which details the historical authenticity of Greek Fire and explains the whole Henry-Anne of Cleves-Catherine Howard-Thomas Cromwell deal.