SPQR VIII: The River God's Vengeance (The SPQR Roman Mysteries) - Hardcover

Roberts, John Maddox

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312323190 ISBN 13: 9780312323196

Publisher: Minotaur Books, 2004

Synopsis

Ancient Rome, in this accurate and evocative series, is just as politics driven as any major American city -- possibly even more. Decius Caecilius Metellus has, through a series of rather wild adventure, and in the act of tracking down killers and other reprobates, barely escaped annhilation several times. Now, newly elected to the office of aedile, the lowest rung on the ladder of Roman authority, he must smoke out corruption and conspiracy that threaten to destroy all of Rome.

About this title

About the Author:

John Maddox Roberts is the author of several science fiction, private eye, and fantasy novels in addition to his popular SPQR mystery series. He lives in New Mexico.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Roberts's entertaining, fast-paced Roman historical, his eighth to feature Decius Caecilius Metellus (after 2003's The Tribune's Curse), Decius has just become an aedile, a city manager responsible for overseeing urban infrastructure, when he's summoned to a fatal building collapse that claims more than 200 lives. While the evidence of shoddy workmanship is consistent with the pervasive but tolerated corruption in the construction trade, Decius's trained investigative eye notes anomalies on several of the corpses; he risks his political future and his life to follow the clues. His powerful family's efforts to navigate the treacherous shifting alliances that preceded Julius Caesar's return from the Gallic Wars add to the pressures the aedile faces. Once again, Roberts does a nice job of bringing the past to life, though his scholarship and detail fall short of Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series, which serves as the gold standard for ancient historicals. Despite the small universe of suspects and a solution involving nearly as much luck as dogged legwork, the book's many fine qualities should boost the ranks of Roberts's readers and send newcomers in search of the previous entries.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0312323190
• ISBN 13: 9780312323196
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288