Unicorn's Blood [Import] [Hardcover]

Patricia Finney (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 464 pages
• Publisher: Orion; 1ST edition (1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752811797
• ISBN-13: 978-0752811796
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,288,964 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Politics and danger in Queen Elizabeth I's court!, August 1, 2000

By 

Zenbob (Woodstock, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unicorn's Blood (Paperback)

This book is a continuation of the same author's FIREDRAKE'S EYE, but the writing is even better. The premise is fascinating: the Queen of England once wrote down information in a diary that, if found by her enemies, could destroy her and bring down her reign. Many of the characters from FIREDRAKE'S EYE return in this reprise, but the plotting is more intricate, the characters even more sophisticated. And Queen Elizabeth is worth the price of the book herself. Highly recommended. The only reason I did not give it 5 stars was that the same narrative style that Finney used in FIREDRAKE'S EYE (which allows characters to view the proceedings as if from heaven) is rather stilted and takes some getting used to. Other than that, it's a great historical novel.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a great read!, January 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Unicorn's Blood (Paperback)

I highly recommend this book. This is a literate and intelligent thriller with wonderfully researched and vivid historical details. The characters are interesting and engaging and play their parts in the complicated plot with aplomb. The protrayal of Elizabeth I's character and situation is superb. I found this book very hard to put down and eagerly await another installment from Ms. Finney.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Holy Tudor cloak and dagger narrator!, July 20, 2002

By 

"cloudia" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unicorn's Blood (Paperback)

This is the first book by Finney I've read, but she really is an excellent writer. Her prose is just beautiful. Her characters are complicated and intriguing. She may be the John Le Carré of Elizabethan historical novelists, but this daring Tudor spy novel also happens to be narrated by the Virgin Mary herself (that takes guts) and depends on the actions of a former nun who was disenfranchised during the Great Schism and is now an ex-prostitute, old, haggard, drinking her life away and a cleaning woman at the royal um, outhouses, who just wants to aquire a dowry for her great-granddaughter. Between the outhouses and various prisons Unicorn's blood has a bleak feel, but there is much adventure combined with holiness, and Queen Elizabeth's moments are priceless.