Revelation - C.J. Sansom

When I heard that C J Sansom was planning a fourth in his Matthew Shardlake series, my initial reaction was somewhat mixed. Although I have enjoyed all the previous books (Dissolution, Dark Fire and Sovereign), I do feel they have got progressively weaker. Similarly, when I heard that the storyline was going to feature a religion obsessed serial killer, my concerns grew. The plotline seemed a little too modern, a little too anachronistic. Thankfully, my fears proved ill-founded, as Sansom has once again turned in an excellent and gripping novel, which grabs the attention of the reader and keeps it, despite the book's mammoth 500 plus pages. As with ...  Read the complete review

I picked up 'Revelation' by C.J. Sansom while doing my weekly shopping in Tesco. I spent as couple of weeks eyeing this book up before actually purchasing it. I am a big fan of the murder mystery genre, of which this is included, but for some strange reason I kept faulting on buying it. When I finally did buy the book, I was very glad that I made the right decision. It is a great read! 'Revelation' is part of the Shardlake series (for those who are not familiar, Matthew Shardlake is the main character in the series of books). I have to be honest and say that I have never read any of the other Shardlake books, so this was my first, but it has wetted my ...  Read the complete review

It is rare that I find a book as captivating as this. Having completed it at 2am this morning I have given it a good few hours for it to really sink in before I consider its true merits but fundamentally it's a great story. A murder mystery thriller set in the later part of Henry VIII reign with strikingly good attention to historical detail the reader is transported to the era. C J Sansom, the author has completed a PHD in history before training as a solicitor and the two seemingly contrasting career choices merge in his writing brilliantly in a clever and tantalising read that educates as much as it mesmerises. Master Shardlake is the main ...  Read the complete review

"Revelation" is the fourth book in the Matthew Shardlake series by C. J Sansom. The Shardlake series is set in 16th century England in the reign of Henry VIII and follows the adventures of Matthew Shardlake, a hunchback lawyer. So far there are four books in the Shardlake series, "Dissolution", "Dark Fire", "Sovereign" and "Revelation". Shardlake works on commissions from Thomas Cromwell in the first two books and then for Thomas Cranmer in the following two. This change of masters shows some of the precarious political and religious situation at the time. As Henry VIII aged he began to move away ...  Read the complete review

I have just put down the best novel I have read in a long time. I have read other books in the Shardlake series, but I consider Revelation to be the best C. J. Sansom novel by far. Matthew Shardlake is a lawyer in the times of Henry VIII and longs for a quiet life away from court. The problem is that troublesome cases seem to follow Master Shardlake and with each novel he has become ever more closely embroiled with the fearsome King Henry, which is highly dangerous in the turbulent Tudor setting of this story. When Shardlakes good friend, a fellow lawyer called Roger, is found murdered with his throat cut he wants to know who wanted him dead and ...  Read the complete review