Honor's Kingdom [Unabridged] [Audio Cassette]

Owen Parry (Author), Paul Boehmer (Amer.) (Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2002

Dispatched to London in the summer of 1862, as the Confederates secretly purchase warships to sweep the Union's commerce from the seas, Union Major Abel Jones arrives to discover the corpse of his predecessor in a basket of eels. The mystery deepens as Jones finds himself tangled in scandals in Parliament, grisly murders among Victorian England's poor, and the very real danger that Britain will be drawn into war with the U.S. once again. Three books in this series precede HONOR'S KINGDOM: CALL EACH RIVER JORDAN, SHADOWS OF GLORY and FADED COAT OF BLUE. SHADOWS OF GLORY was selected by both the Washington Post and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch as one of their Best Books of 2000, and FADED COAT OF BLUE was awarded the 2000 Herodotus Award for Best First Historical Mystery.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette: 9 pages
• Publisher: Books on Tape, Inc. (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0736687254
• ISBN-13: 978-0736687256
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.7 x 2.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,785,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, haunting writing, September 12, 2002

By 

miriam price (Greater Atlanta, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honor's Kingdom (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Life is mystifying. One person can read a novel and adore it, while another "can't get through" the same book. Well, I had to write this review--my first on amazon--because I saw that a reviewer not only didn't much like this book, but suspected that Owen Parry's audience is mostly male. As a matter of fact, I'm both very much a woman and a devoted fan of this series. I don't think one's reaction is so much a matter of gender as much as of personal literary tastes. If Parry faces any stumbling block, it just may be that his writing is too good--the more you love fine, serious writing (masquerading as a mystery series, and a very good one, at that), the better you will like Parry's writing. But if you prefer novels that are as mindless as prime-time television, look elsewhere. Parry is a master of beautiful prose, a true genius at creating vivid, living, memorable characters, devilishly-good at plots, and, as best I can tell, a first-rate historian (note to my fellow female reviewer: Marx was well-known in informed circles by the 1860s and a good number of Communists, as well as thousands of Socialists, fought in the Civil War on the Union side). Anyway, the important thing is that this is a delightful book that I read in two sittings. All of the novels in this series are great reads--and Parry, to his credit, has made each of them unique and he avoids cheap formulas. Yes, these books are terrific mysteries and--just maybe--the finest historical novels being written today. But the ultimate matter is that they are simply wonderful books. This is genuine literature pretending to be popular fiction. And I intend to read every novel Owen Parry publishes...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parry's Best Yet, July 24, 2002

By 

Leo J. Gibson (Ann Arbor, MI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honor's Kingdom (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I should have spent the last day studying for the bar exam.

Unfortunately, Parry's sharp wit, along with his unsurpassed development of plot, setting and characterization dragged me away from my scholastic duties. Now I know why Abel Jones stands so quick to damn the novel as an enticing distraction from virtue (though the Welshman softens this postion somewhat in the course of this story).

I found this story to be the best mystery of Parry's books, too. Though Parry's previous books were similarly entertaining, I found "Faded Coat of Blue" and "Call Each River" predictable of outcome (though having an early notion of the route made the trip no less enjoyable). As with "Shadows of Glory", I found "Honor's Kingdom" confounding until the final pages.

And the villain who assumes center-stage in this novel stands up to any of the fictional rogues concocted by the Marquise de Sade as a convincing, repulsive embodiment of villainy. Though I suspect Parry's sympathies would not lie with that French "nobleman", his ability to portray such a wicked character with such sympathy ("Sympathy for the Devil", perhaps?) testifies to his skill as an author and to his integrity as an observer of the human condition.

Well worth the read, and then some.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That ... Parry!, September 1, 2002

By 

Daniel J. Cragg (Springfield, Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Honor's Kingdom (Abel Jones Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I have never eaten an eel pie, but I've heard of 'em and thought perhaps some day I might enjoy the experience. Not now! Not after reading the first chapter of Abel Jones's latest adventure. That ... Parry has such a command of English prose he used it to make me ill! I haven't read anythng quite as graphic as Chapter 1 of "Honor's Kingdom" since Swift's "The Lady's Dressing Room." But once into this book, as all of Parry's novels, I couldn't put it aside.

So what's Abel Jones doing in England? I thought this mystery was pretty straight forward: the redoubtable Major is there to thwart the Confederates' English confederates from building warships for Richmond's fledgling navy. The CSS ALABAMA springs immediately to mind. But the ALABAMA was launched and she wreaked havoc with Yankee shipping. So Jones' mission we know from the beginning of this book is a failure. OK, so he'll solve some grisly murders? Well, read the book. Owen Parry's plots aren't THAT transparent.

Now that the "Washington Post" has blown Parry's cover it's obvious this talented literary gentleman has been leaving clues to his real identity buried in the pages of his books. Turn to p. 75 in this edition. There it is and it's hilarious. The real Owen Parry evidently has a self-deprecating sense of humor that combined with his devastating talent as a writer must make him in real life a very endearing person. He also knows English lit. In "Honor's Kingdom" you'll meet Thackery, learn something about Dickens (to whom Parry's writing has been favorably compared), get to know young Henry Adams, and get a liberal dose of William Shakespeare. Parry has something in common with the Bard too: His bad guys get some of the best lines. Oh, and if Karl Marx has any living descendants they may well sue Mr. Parry. But if that happens, don't worry, old bean, all your fans will happily contribute thousands to your defense!

And kudos to Ms. Barbara Levine, the cover artist. I wish I could get her to work for me.

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