Thursday 27 August 2015

Hearts of Darkness, book review. Harry Lytle III (Paul Lawrence)

I love Harry Lytle. (He even has his own website with a Goodreads link)
Set in the dark devious, depressing destitute and deprived depths of seventeenth century London, this, the third chronicle of Harry Lytle, finds our unlikely and unwilling protagonist, fighting against his most deadly of enemies to date, the black death; bubonic plague.
In order to avoid a long and agonising death on some rather barbaric medieval torture device, Harry and his best pal are tasked (forced) to travel to Essex and once there, to gain entry to one of the most plague infested towns in the country, all to detain a wanted criminal who might be innocent.
There is a familiarity between the characters and some mention of what went before, but this volume can still be read as a standalone novel, and won't disappoint.
So, under treat of death our two key characters pursuit their quarry with foolhardy poise, having little clue about what lies around the corner.
They fight, they lose, they are captured they escape, they are surround by death, they find a dead cow!
There is much to like about Paul Lawrence's books and ever since the first one (The Sweet Smell of Decay) crossed my path back in 2010, I've been a fan. 

So a good, well deserved four stars. When can we expect the next one?

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