The Godless Man: A Mystery of Alexander the Great - Hardcover

Doherty, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0786709952 ISBN 13: 9780786709953

Publisher: Carroll & Graf, 2002

Synopsis

It is now 334 B.C., and Alexander has smashed the Persian armies at the Battle of the Granicus and is roaming the western Persian Empire like a hungry predator, living up to his nickname of “the Wolf of Macedon.” Arriving in one of his prizes, the great city of Ephesus, the success of his campaign is threatened by a series of violent murders brought about by a high-ranking Persian spy known only as “the Centaur.” Worse, one of Alexander’s old tutors, Leonidas, is found floating face down in a stagnant pond at the House of Medusa—and this doesn’t look like an accident, since the House of Medusa is linked with a guild of assassins who formerly flourished in Ephesus. So once again Alexander’s friend and physician, Telamon, must set about unraveling this swirling mass of blood-strewn mysteries, this time working hand in hand with the king’s eerie Master of Secrets, Aristander. As always, one of the biggest obstacles is the volatile and unpredictable nature of Alexander himself, a consummate actor whose lust for power and glory matches the carnage and intrigue that dog his footsteps like the Furies themselves.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Doherty is the internationally renowned author of many historical novels. He studied history at Liverpool and Oxford universities, and gained a Doctorate at Oxford. He is now headmaster of a London school and lives near Epping Forest.

From Publishers Weekly

After his mighty victory at the Granicus in 334 B.C., Alexander the Great sweeps deeper into Persia in this multilayered and entertaining mystery, but when his army captures the city of Ephesus, the march of conquest seems doomed to halt in the face of intrigue and multiple murders. A shadowy assassin known only as the Centaur lurks behind the brutal crimes, and the young warlord commands his personal physician, Telamon, to uncover the identity of the killer and investigate some deep puzzles. In this second appearance after 2001's The House of Death, the good doctor, aided by Cassandra, his Celtic Maid Watson, must solve a mass murder committed within the securely locked doors of the Temple of Hercules. With a bravura flourish typical of his recent novels, Doherty includes a second locked-room murder as well as the killing of a politically connected courtesan and the death of the old soldier Leonidas, found floating in an ornamental pool in the gloomy mansion known as the House of Medusa. All the crimes are deftly presented and resolved, though Telamon and Cassandra have yet to leap from the page as living characters, and the mincing royal magician, Aristander, remains a painful presence. Details of the political moment in that age of myth and the battleground action compensate for these lapses. Doherty, a proven master of this form, has fertile territory lying ahead for this series.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Carroll & Graf
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0786709952
• ISBN 13: 9780786709953
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288