Enter your mobile number or email address below and we'll send you a link to download the free Kindle App. Then you can start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Apple
Android
Windows Phone
Android
To get the free app, enter your mobile phone number.
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.
This is the first book I've read by Jana Petken and I found it engaging and informational. I'm a history buff and I loved all the research incorporated into the story, especially the difficulty Jews who had converted to Christianity during the time of the Inquisition faced. And what seemed, for the first couple chapters, to be a common historical fiction set in Spain, progressed and developed into a thriller with several interesting plot twists. The main character, David Sanz, is caught up in the crimes of others, making decisions to save himself and his family from ruin - but still the evil powers commit more evils and he and his family are swept up in the storm. David is emotionally distraught, regretting and wishing he could do things differently. I found several of the other characters equally compelling including Paco, Tur and Alejandro. While the story includes some of the grimmer, woeful behaviors of the Inquisition, it doesn't dwell on them. And that is a good thing. It is driven rather by the characters which makes 'The Errant Flock' a five star book, worth a read by all lovers of historical fantasy.
The setting...the small town of Sagrat, Spain in the 15th century when the Spanish Inquisition sparks fear into the flock who goes astray or the "converso" who are practicing their religious beliefs in secret. Heretics of the Catholic Church are tortured beyond human comprehension. An era of historical shame perpetuated by the Holy Office during the reign of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella.
"The Errant Flock" by gifted Author Jana Petken, which is based on these horrific events, has a credible and authentic ring to it despite its fictional genre. The wealth and scope of her well-researched background information demonstrates the author's painstaking efforts to bring the atrocities committed on many innocent believers to light in present day times. In my opinion, she manages to do exactly what she hoped to accomplish as my feathers got rankled by the mere thought of what took place in ancient times. I am incensed and outraged by these abhorrent activities as if they are still taking place today....that's how descriptive and precise the accounts are of what occurred so many years ago.
David Sanz and his family become victims of Duke Luis Perato strictly by chance. The Duke's young, insane wife is unable to give birth to a healthy baby. He needs an heir and desperately seeks to find one by involving David Sanz in his wicked scheme. After the Duke's unprecedented request upon the innocent militia officer, David Sanz's life nor that of his family, is ever going to return to normal. One extremely painful event after the other befalls the Sanz family. The horror of their infliction is beyond words. David Sanz, victim or villain? Or perhaps victorious...as yet to be determined by each individual reading this heart-wrenching novel.
Plain and simple...I could not put this book down. It captured my interest from the first page to the last and every page in-between. Historical fiction at its best!
A brilliant piece of historical fiction, "The Errant Flock" captures a very dark period in Spain's history wherein the Church and the Inquisition reign over the lives of its people. Set in the town of Sagrat in the 15th century, "The Errant Flock" tells the story of David Sanz, a young, idealistic officer in Duke Luis Perato's militia. In the opening chapters, Perato's wife, who suffers from insanity, has just given birth to a stillborn child, and the Duke schemes with his Treasurer, Garcia, to replace the dead infant with a one from an innocent family. To accomplish this, he recruits Sanz to commit murder by threatening the young officer's family with death.
To further complicate matters, the Sanz' are Jewish by heritage and Christian by conversion, living in a time when persecution of Jews is rampant. Into this dangerous mix, comes the Inquisitor, Gaspar De Amo, who is also Perato's father-in-law, and who seeks to stamp out what he sees as blatant heresy in the town of Sagrat.
The novel is fast-paced, a real page-turner, and Petken keeps the reader fully invested in the fates of Sanz and his family. Well-researched, the story also lays bare a time in history that, curiously, is extremely relevant today.
Petken, author of other such notable historical novels as "Guardian of The Secrets" and "Swearing Allegiance," has outdone herself with "The Errant Flock." This is an extremely entertaining and enlightening novel and comes, from this reader, most highly recommended.
In addition, I understand Petken has penned a sequel to "The Errant Flock" which, hopefully, will be released soon, and which I look forward to with great anticipation!
I love a good historical fiction and this author certainly does not let you down. Her research and detail is impeccable and she aptly draws you into the story like you are living and breathing it.
Set in Spain in around the fifteenth century, the story follows David and his family and some of the dark and catastrophic events that came with the Spanish inquisition and a period of history which quite frankly I had not really known much about before. The story was transparent, sometimes horrific, but so was this time period, and the author paints a picture that truly pulls you in and you feel the characters, their triumphs, pain and grief.
A great read all round and certainly making me want to read the next volume of this series!
Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway
This item: The Errant Flock (The Flock Trilogy Book 1)
This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.