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The Book of Cross #2
The Dead Hamlets: Book Two of the Book of Cross by Peter Roman
Something is rotten in the court of the faerie queen. A deadly spirit is killing off the faerie, and it has mysterious ties to Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet. The only one who can stop it is the immortal Cross, a charming rogue who also happens to be a drunk, a thief, and an angel killer. He is no friend of the faerie since they stole his daughter and made her one of their own. When it appears she may be the next victim of the haunting, though, he must race against time to save her. He encounters an eccentric and deadly cast of characters along the the real Witches of Macbeth, the undead playwright/demon hunter Christopher Marlowe, an eerie Alice from the Alice in Wonderland books, a deranged and magical scholar — and a very supernatural William Shakespeare. When Cross discovers a startling secret about the origins of "Hamlet" itself, he finds himself trapped in a ghost story even he may not be able to escape alive!
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First published January 20, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 17, 2017
Something is haunting the play Hamlet, every time faeries put up the show someone dies...for real! It's up to the immortal Cross; a rogue and a drunk to stop the curse.
This was one hell of a ride! I enjoyed this story very much. Cross has to stop this curse or else his daughter Amelia could be the next victim of the curse, and he also has to fight a personal curse put on him by the fairy queen Morgana that makes him love her. To find out how to stop the curse he has to get help from quite different "people" like Christopher Marlowe, Alice (from the Alice in the Wonderland books), Frankenstein (the monsters actually not the doctor, but it's his name) The Scholar and so on...
I loved the story, the characters, the cameos of known fictional and not fictional characters. It was a great book that I recommend warmly!
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
This was one hell of a ride! I enjoyed this story very much. Cross has to stop this curse or else his daughter Amelia could be the next victim of the curse, and he also has to fight a personal curse put on him by the fairy queen Morgana that makes him love her. To find out how to stop the curse he has to get help from quite different "people" like Christopher Marlowe, Alice (from the Alice in the Wonderland books), Frankenstein (the monsters actually not the doctor, but it's his name) The Scholar and so on...
I loved the story, the characters, the cameos of known fictional and not fictional characters. It was a great book that I recommend warmly!
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
June 9, 2015
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
Something is wrong with the play of Hamlet. At each and every production of it, mysterious accidents happen. Deadly accidents. Whatever cursed the play, it's killing the Faeries. Immortal Cross is summoned to help stop the haunting, with a very intense incentive. His, somewhat weirdly rebirthed daughter has to play Ophelia in all upcoming performances.
I really quite liked this one. It was weird, but in a good way. I had, especially in the beginning no clue about what was going on. It turned out this is not the first book about Cross, which might explain why I felt like I'd missed a lot. While trying to solve whatever is wrong with the Hamlet play Cross himself also gets hunted by a team of old death Gods like Osiris and helped by a lot of literary characters, like Shakespeare and Alice (from The Wonderland).
A great many references to history and literature. A very fast-paced read that was never dull. I would definitely read the next book in this series. (Or try to get myself a copy of the first book).
The Dead Hamlets is the second book around Cross. The first book in the Book of Cross series is called The Mona Lisa Sacrifice.
Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Something is wrong with the play of Hamlet. At each and every production of it, mysterious accidents happen. Deadly accidents. Whatever cursed the play, it's killing the Faeries. Immortal Cross is summoned to help stop the haunting, with a very intense incentive. His, somewhat weirdly rebirthed daughter has to play Ophelia in all upcoming performances.
I really quite liked this one. It was weird, but in a good way. I had, especially in the beginning no clue about what was going on. It turned out this is not the first book about Cross, which might explain why I felt like I'd missed a lot. While trying to solve whatever is wrong with the Hamlet play Cross himself also gets hunted by a team of old death Gods like Osiris and helped by a lot of literary characters, like Shakespeare and Alice (from The Wonderland).
A great many references to history and literature. A very fast-paced read that was never dull. I would definitely read the next book in this series. (Or try to get myself a copy of the first book).
The Dead Hamlets is the second book around Cross. The first book in the Book of Cross series is called The Mona Lisa Sacrifice.
Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
January 10, 2015
A Rewarding, Witty, Hot Mess of Angel-Pummeling, Action and Noir Detective Fiction
Cross is an immortal being who keeps himself going by killing angels and taking their "grace". It would be pointless to try to summarize any more of his backstory, but since he is a talkative drunk he will tell you the rest during the course of this book. Suffice to say that he comes across, at first, as a pretty standard angel-noir angsty tough guy with a lot of regrets and a chip on his shoulder.
In this outing he is being blackmailed, (in a sense), by the queen of the fae to solve the mystery of why players keep being murdered during the course of faerie theatrical presentations of Shakespeare's plays. Has the "Macbeth" curse gone viral? Is something else going on? Like any good noir the thing/person/answer our anti-hero is looking for doesn't matter that much at the outset; it's the search, the double-crosses, the strange characters, and the patter that provides the entertainment value. And this book has it in spades.
Especially at the outset before the story gets fully up to speed Cross is all over the place as a character. He keeps telling us he's a drunk, and that gets old after a while. He's all depressed about his dead mortal wife and kidnapped dead/reanimated daughter, and the angsty navel gazing can also get old. But that's a quibble, (and a bedrock noir convention anyway), and it goes away after a while. Everything else is top drawer. Cross has to work his way through the usual array of characters who may or may not be helping him. Here, we get the three real Witches from MacBeth, a hilariously decent and thoughtful Frankenstein, a creepy insane Alice from Wonderland, a slippery Marlowe, and a distracted and mild-mannered Scholar, not to mention an impossibly large number of cameo bits ranging from the Ravenmaster of the Tower of London, to Anubis, to various angels, innumerable ghosts and apparitions, and the like.
The author loves to drop a name or an idea in at every opportunity, so we have references to theology, philosophy, epistemology, angelology, literature, history, and pretty much every major figure from the popular culture of the last few centuries. Sometimes Cross feels like the Forrest Gump of haunted/cursed immortals, showing up at everything from Arthur's Round Table to Hiroshima. But here's the thing - most of it works, and if something doesn't work then something better will be along in just a moment. (For what it's worth, a number of scenes have Cross interacting with characters while they are performing Shakespeare plays. For example, he asks the three Witches for a favor while they are all doing MacBeth because that's the only way he can meet with them. I know that sounds precious, but it's actually pretty inspired and it works beautifully. )
I have to admit that at first I thought this would just be another snappy-patter angelcentric private eye noir, and at first it is. But Cross grows on you and once the setup is complete and the story gets moving everything just gets better and more interesting. Half-way through it becomes a real mystery that drives to a subtle and satisfying conclusion. In the meantime, there are lots of little details and throw-away bits about Cross and his history that make him a much more interesting protagonist than he at first seems. There are also many amusing, satirical, ironic and perceptive comments tossed away almost in passing by all of the characters, even some of the least significant.
This is a busy book, with a lot of busy, inventive angles and many unexpected and amusing touches and grace notes. I'm happy I didn't just dismiss it as another angel-hard-boiled; it's much more than that. It's fun, it's smart, it's a little unhinged, it is cleverly and propulsively plotted and it screams along like a rocket. I'm in.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
Cross is an immortal being who keeps himself going by killing angels and taking their "grace". It would be pointless to try to summarize any more of his backstory, but since he is a talkative drunk he will tell you the rest during the course of this book. Suffice to say that he comes across, at first, as a pretty standard angel-noir angsty tough guy with a lot of regrets and a chip on his shoulder.
In this outing he is being blackmailed, (in a sense), by the queen of the fae to solve the mystery of why players keep being murdered during the course of faerie theatrical presentations of Shakespeare's plays. Has the "Macbeth" curse gone viral? Is something else going on? Like any good noir the thing/person/answer our anti-hero is looking for doesn't matter that much at the outset; it's the search, the double-crosses, the strange characters, and the patter that provides the entertainment value. And this book has it in spades.
Especially at the outset before the story gets fully up to speed Cross is all over the place as a character. He keeps telling us he's a drunk, and that gets old after a while. He's all depressed about his dead mortal wife and kidnapped dead/reanimated daughter, and the angsty navel gazing can also get old. But that's a quibble, (and a bedrock noir convention anyway), and it goes away after a while. Everything else is top drawer. Cross has to work his way through the usual array of characters who may or may not be helping him. Here, we get the three real Witches from MacBeth, a hilariously decent and thoughtful Frankenstein, a creepy insane Alice from Wonderland, a slippery Marlowe, and a distracted and mild-mannered Scholar, not to mention an impossibly large number of cameo bits ranging from the Ravenmaster of the Tower of London, to Anubis, to various angels, innumerable ghosts and apparitions, and the like.
The author loves to drop a name or an idea in at every opportunity, so we have references to theology, philosophy, epistemology, angelology, literature, history, and pretty much every major figure from the popular culture of the last few centuries. Sometimes Cross feels like the Forrest Gump of haunted/cursed immortals, showing up at everything from Arthur's Round Table to Hiroshima. But here's the thing - most of it works, and if something doesn't work then something better will be along in just a moment. (For what it's worth, a number of scenes have Cross interacting with characters while they are performing Shakespeare plays. For example, he asks the three Witches for a favor while they are all doing MacBeth because that's the only way he can meet with them. I know that sounds precious, but it's actually pretty inspired and it works beautifully. )
I have to admit that at first I thought this would just be another snappy-patter angelcentric private eye noir, and at first it is. But Cross grows on you and once the setup is complete and the story gets moving everything just gets better and more interesting. Half-way through it becomes a real mystery that drives to a subtle and satisfying conclusion. In the meantime, there are lots of little details and throw-away bits about Cross and his history that make him a much more interesting protagonist than he at first seems. There are also many amusing, satirical, ironic and perceptive comments tossed away almost in passing by all of the characters, even some of the least significant.
This is a busy book, with a lot of busy, inventive angles and many unexpected and amusing touches and grace notes. I'm happy I didn't just dismiss it as another angel-hard-boiled; it's much more than that. It's fun, it's smart, it's a little unhinged, it is cleverly and propulsively plotted and it screams along like a rocket. I'm in.
Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.
July 10, 2015
Peter Roman returns to the fantastical exploits of Cross, a desolate immortal trapped in the undying body left behind by Jesus Christ. The Dead Hamlets finds the former thief/current angel-slayer unwilling roped into detective work for the Faerie Queen, looking for a killer with supernatural ties to the work of William Shakespeare. Like the first, Roman heedlessly mangles history in the funhouse mirror of his mind, all to suit his twisted purpose; playwright Christopher Marlowe is an undead demon hunter, Alice (the Wonderland one) is a playfully warped trickster, Shakespeare himself is a supernatural force…you get the general idea. It’s all glorious fun, a blasphemously good time, a sacrelicious treat. The adventures of Cross could easily continue for years; here’s hoping they’re all as much fun.
Read more at the Redeblog.
Read more at the Redeblog.
February 11, 2015
A great fantasy romp
For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/the-de... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
For a full review, please go to http://www.examiner.com/review/the-de... and follow me on Twitter @josenher
July 4, 2015
Zippy. It zips along.
October 18, 2025
Something is killing the faeries and Fey. Every time they stage the play Hamlet someone dies. Cross stumbles in on one of these performances and gets roped into solving this problem. In order to do so he enlists the help of Frankenstein's monster(who wants to be called Frankenstein if you please), Alice, the witches from Macbeth and Christopher Marlowe.
This book was one hell of a ride and I can't wait to read the final book in the trilogy.
This book was one hell of a ride and I can't wait to read the final book in the trilogy.
January 17, 2018
Fantastic
August 10, 2019
This was surprisingly entertaining. I picked it up because it was $5 and I love Hamlet, so I figured why not?. I didn't expect much beyond a silly story, and ultimately that's what it was, but it was fun. I enjoyed the references, the weird characters, and especially Christopher Marlowe. Will I remember it for a long time? Probably not. But did I enjoy my time with it? Absolutely yes.
February 8, 2015
I got really excited at the idea of this novel, which is awesome let's be honest; there's Hamlet, angels, Arthurian mythology, Alice in Wonderland, and Frankenstein's monster. This is the ultimate crossover story, and I should have loved it.
Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my (admittedly pretty high) expectations. It was difficult to get invested in, and if I'm honest, I skim read a lot of it. It's mainly because I didn't like the protagonist - the voice really reminded me of I, Lucifer, which I didn't enjoy that much either, and as a main character, he wasn't developed enough for me to like him. (However that might have to do with it being a sequel...)
I appreciate the effort that went into this, and I might revisit it at another time, but for now it's not for me.
Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my (admittedly pretty high) expectations. It was difficult to get invested in, and if I'm honest, I skim read a lot of it. It's mainly because I didn't like the protagonist - the voice really reminded me of I, Lucifer, which I didn't enjoy that much either, and as a main character, he wasn't developed enough for me to like him. (However that might have to do with it being a sequel...)
I appreciate the effort that went into this, and I might revisit it at another time, but for now it's not for me.
April 16, 2015
Another great fun read by Peter Roman (Peter Darbyshire). I love the style and dark humour of this series. I can see the book being made into an action movie. Will continue to be a big fan of this series.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews