Four for a Boy (John the Eunuch Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Mary Reed (Author), Eric Mayer (Draft Writer)

Book Description

Series: John the Eunuch Mysteries | Publication Date: May 25, 2004

Gang-plagued streets, politicians plotting each other's downfall, poverty and homelessness existing side-by-side with manifest wealth-no, this isn't modern day Washington D.C., but rather 6th-Century Constantinople. After a philanthropist is murdered in the city's Great Church, where he's gone too visit a controversial statue of Christ, John the Eunuch, Lord Chamberlin to Byzantine Emperor Justinian the First, is assigned to ferret out the killer and maybe also to act the role of a spy in a web of rivalries involving the current and future emperors.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gang-plagued streets, politicians plotting each other's downfall, poverty and homelessness existing side-by-side with manifest wealth--no, this isn’t modern-day Washington, D.C., but rather 6th-century Constantinople, as portrayed by Mary Reed and Eric Mayer in Four for a Boy. A prequel to their three previous novels featuring John the Eunuch, Lord Chamberlain to Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, this nimble and scrupulously plotted tale finds John still a mercenary-turned-slave in the palace of Justinian's predecessor, Justin I. He hardly seems the right man to take on a "defense of the empire." Yet after a philanthropist is murdered in the city's Great Church, where he’d gone to visit a controversial statue of Christ, John is assigned, along with a German palace guard (and fellow pagan), to ferret out the killer and maybe also to act the role of spy in a web of rivalries involving the current and future emperors, as well as an imperious city prefect--"the Gourd"--with a misshapen head and supposedly magical powers. Not until a marble importer is slain does a solution to these odd crimes emerge.

Reed and Mayer excel at crafting royal intrigues, especially the plot by Justinian’s mendacious lover, Theodora, to wrest control of the former Eastern Roman Empire from Justin, whose senescence has him parlaying at length with his dead wife. They are clever, too, in creating action sequences (such as one in which John tries to "fly" from pursuers on Icarus-like wings) that fit their historical setting. It's only too bad that the authors don’t do more in this prequel to fill in John’s backstory, and that they force him to spend most of his time here in an annoying pique, his violent castration and lowly position frustrating his desire to return the affections of a senator's daughter. --J. Kingston Pierce --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

In this captivating prequel set in sixth-century Constantinople, the fourth in Reed and Mayer's well-received historical series (Three for a Letter, etc.), the future emperor Justinian asks a young slave named John the Eunuch to investigate the murder of philanthropist Hypatius, struck down while examining the controversial Christ statue he and three others have given to the city's Great Church. Discounting rumors of a political plot, John undertakes a search for the truth that will lead him from opulent palace to squalid hospice, and to meetings with such memorable characters as the na‹ve Lady Anna and the quirky Avis, who lives in a virtual aviary and is convinced he will fly someday. Written with humor and pathos, this superior historical is sure to please existing fans and send new ones in search of the rest of the series.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: I Books (May 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743486900
• ISBN-13: 978-0743486903
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,636,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful mystery of Byzantine Constantinople, August 16, 2003

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booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Four for a Boy: A John the Eunuch Mystery (Hardcover)

The aging emperor, Justin, is increasingly infirm and his nephew and heir, Justinian, is sick. As a result, the city of Constantinople is convulsed by doubt and riots. The Blues (one of the racing factions that battled in the streets of the greatest city in the world) rule the streets, suppressed only by the police authorities who have become increasingly violent. When a rich man is murdered, the senators are quick to point the finger at Justinian. Justinian may be sick (he believes he's being poisoned), but he isn't stupid. He asks a slave, John the Eunuch, to help investigate.

What John finds seems to point the finger more directly at Justinian. Because there is a conspiracy at work, and the victim seems to have been involved with the conspirators. Yet John, accompanied by the royal bodyguard, Felix, suspects that they are missing something. That suspicion becomes more deeply seated when John and Felix are nearly killed by professional assassins. Somehow, John has to get to the bottom of the mystery, ensure that the results don't reflect badly on his patron, and prevent riots from destroying the city. It's a lot to ask a slave.

Authors Mary Reed and Eric Mayer write convincingly of Constantinople in one of its most famous and dangerous periods. Christianity is the legal religion, but pagan and Mithraism remain strong (if illegal) forces. Christianity itself is violently divided by clashing beliefs about the nature of Jesus's divinity--a clash that the Emperor must often play a role in healing. In a few years, Justinian will undertake his epic and doomed quest to restore the Roman Empire--but only if he can survive.

Set fifteen years before the earlier novels in this series, FOUR FOR A BOY is both enjoyable and fascinating. Anyone interested in this critical timeframe, or interested in a good historical mystery, will want to read this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Byzantine Conspiracies, October 28, 2004

By 

R. BULL "a reader" (Kansas City, MO United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Four for a Boy (John the Eunuch Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Reed and Mayer present a well-researched and fascinating peek at 6th century Constantinople. If you think soccer hooligans are dangerous, imagine them with swords and knives. Supporters of the "Blues" who support one team of chariot racers, terrorize the city and assasinate a well known philanthropist. Rumor start to fly that Justinian, already named succesor to Emporer Justin, is stirring up unrest to hurry the aging Caesar from the throne. John the eunuch and an imperial bodyguard are assigned to investigate by Justinian. Nothing is quite what it seems. Do the police authorities supress or cause the riots? Is Justinian ill or is he being poisoned? Is the father of the woman John tutors a patriot or a traitor? Is Justin demented or is he just pretending to be? Raging against his status of a slave and tormented by the memory of his forced , John is forced to unravel the lies and survive assination attempts. A compelling book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Prequel to the John the Eunuch Mysteries, March 7, 2009

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W. S. McKenzie (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Four for a Boy: A John the Eunuch Mystery (Hardcover)

This volume jumps back to 525 and relates the beginning of John's career from slave to Lord Chamberlain. I enjoy this series for the unusual historical setting in sixth century Constantinople with rich descriptions of life in the city on the Bosporus. John is teamed with Felix of the Palace guard who slowly begins to appreciate the slave's talents: "At least I know you can handle yourself in a fight." We meet the dying Justin, his successor Justinian, and Theodora who "does not enjoy the notion of Justinian being grateful to anyone except her."