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Returned to his country estate after Wellington's victories, the Marquis of Heroncourt, a handsome and eligible bachelor, falls in love with the countrified Lady Mimosa Field and risks his life for a ten-year-old Earl in jeopardy

165 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 31, 2003

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1091 people want to read

About the author

Barbara Cartland

1,074 books835 followers
Born in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com

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5 stars
1,649 (43%)
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3 stars
689 (18%)
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33 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
Profile Image for Shannon Appelcline.
Author 30 books167 followers
March 13, 2016
Ellis takes over, and he offers us a very different sort of Hellblazer: it's deeply personal, not about any great crises; and it's very human, not about demons and faeries. It's also much more decompressed than the Jenkins run, going 6 issues for a small story.

The focus on character works well, as we really get to appreciate Constantine at his best and worst. Constantine's inner dialogues are often written at length, and they feel very true to the character. As for that story: it's grotesque at time, but it's also got just the slightest tinge of fanciful magic, with Isabel's ghost and Map in the Underground. Overall, it's a nice new direction for the comic.
Profile Image for Quentin Wallace.
Author 34 books178 followers
July 25, 2016
Warren Ellis presents a more traditional style Hellblazer story.

In this one Constantine's ex girlfriend is sacrificed in a horrible manner, and John is out for revenge. It was pretty nice to read a straight forward revenge story after a lot of metaphysical type stories in prior volumes.

Overall a good read with decent art. Curious to see where else Ellis takes the series.
Profile Image for Mike Cruden.
63 reviews1 follower
October 22, 2014
This is the first collection of Warren Ellis' run of Hellblazer stories, and if ever a series and a writer were made for each other, this is it. The story concerns the brutal, sadistic murder of one of Constantine's past loves, and no detail is spared in the graphic description of this murder, and Constantine's ensuing quest for vengeance, which results in his suffering quite a beating from some thugs. Part of the horror in this book is from the details of the story itself, but much of it also comes from the utter degradation of London itself, which Ellis depicts almost as another version of hell, a complete wasteland, which, if you knew where to look, could be said of every major city.
The reason I haven't given this book a higher rating is the artwork, which is an important part of the package with a graphic novel. John Higgins' art is competent enough, and is carries the story well, but there's nothing particularly exciting about it, and in fact I find it too cartoony and not realistic enough to enhance this series, which has a very "streets" feel to it. Very worthy of particular mention are the covers to the individual comics by Tim Bradstreet, which are excellent and do convey the grittiness mentioned above.

This graphic novel and others like it plus individual Hellblazer comics are available from http://internet-comics.ebid.net
Profile Image for MissKitty.
1,747 reviews
July 25, 2023
This one is notable because its the one where the Hero has an epiphany that he is the stupid one 😂

I had already thought as much, since the villain got the better of him not once but twice in as many days!



“He had told the truth when he said that Mimosa’s eyes haunted him and he had seen them everywhere he looked.

He saw that worried frightened expression that made her incredibly beautiful and yet at the same time he could describe her as an untidy ill-dressed child, who was ignorant of all the attributes that he thought were essential in his wife.

But, as soon as he saw her at Carlton House, he had been aware of his own stupidity, almost as if it was written in letters of fire above her head.

He had been stunned by her beauty, which he knew outshone that of every other woman in the room. And he knew that the indescribable chic with which she was dressed was entirely different from that of any young girl he had ever seen or imagined.

It was then that he was suddenly furious that he, who prided himself on being perceptive and on seeing beneath the surface what any man or woman was actually like rather than what they pretended to be, had been so obtuse.”

Excerpt From
Haunted
Barbara Cartland
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/M...
This material may be protected by copyright.



Yes, he is an arrogant self indulgent snob! I do wonder if these gems that are revealed in Dame Cartland’s books reflect her own views or if she is having a laugh at us, or on someone she knows 😂
Profile Image for Bayandur.
61 reviews40 followers
October 2, 2012
John Constantine, con-man and magician, finds out his ex-girlfriend from seven years ago has been killed. He calls in some favors from friends - to find the murderer and give 'im hell.

Now it's the first book of Hellblazer written by Warren Ellis. And the first Ellis piece I've ever read too.

Ellis' Hellblazer is a lot darker than that of Garth Ennis, and that of Delano, and even that of Moore. But... I might be a bit skeptical at first, reading a new author when you think you know all the good ones, Ellis is mesmerizing. His imagery borders with that of magical realism - Gabriel Garcia Marquez kind of stuff. John Constantine is a lot more into magic right now (though his treatment of Aleister Crowley brought in my old scorn for authors, like "read a couple of books and you fancy yourself experts on magic and Crowley, don't you").

The only reason I didn't give this book full 5 stars is that the John Constantine bloke has become a bit of a cardboard character now; though there were moments in Isabelle's diary (woefully little of them in the book) that really touched me. Maybe I've been hooked on Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" for too long, but I like the way Gaiman enriches the plot with side-stories and sentimental stuff.

And the reasons I didn't give the book three stars - the near-perfect portrayal of Isabelle's character in her writing style and John Constantine's Monologue on London Bridge.
Profile Image for 47Time.
3,477 reviews95 followers
November 29, 2017
The image of London in this story is of a dreadful, bleak place where some people die easily and are forgotten instantly. John seems to have the ability to see people's darkest sins and he takes advantage of that information to force them to help him. He can also send a psychic message to someone far away and apply inventive psychological torture to his enemies. Basically, this seems to be John 2.0, but it's a welcome addition to an already cool character.

John reads in the newspaper about the death of one of his old girlfriends named Isabel. He finds more details from an inspector that owes him: the girl was mutilated before death, then raped. She also lost the child she was preagnant with. John is determined, even obsessed, to find the culprit.

Profile Image for Karl Whitney.
28 reviews9 followers
March 28, 2016
John Constantine is one of the more unique comic book characters. An anti-hero in every sense of the word. No super powers to speak of Constantine is a foul, and foul-mouthed, chain-smoking part wizard, part detective, part demonologist. His is a world lower than the most seedy underbelly. He's a man who has seen the kind of death, sorrow, and evil that would drive the average man insane, and perhaps has already done so to Constantine.

This Warren Ellis tale tells of an old lover named Isabelle who is horribly murdered. John investigates to find that his old friend had died as a cheap prostitute barely living on the fringes of society. John eventually finds out she came under the domination of a rival mage who did unspeakable things to her before killing her. Reluctantly John needs help and calls upon a couple of old friends. The ending...well, to say the ending was one of the more disturbing things I've ever read or seen in a comic would be understating it. It's not pretty, but then that is Constantine's world

Profile Image for Diego Beaumont.
389 reviews579 followers
December 31, 2021
Mordáz,sórdido e irreverente. Todo lo que podía esperar del gran Constantine!
Profile Image for Josh.
593 reviews
October 27, 2024
She hit all of her usual plot points in this one but I found the action moved too soon and the rest of the book was a bit boring
Profile Image for Joe Kucharski.
313 reviews22 followers
January 11, 2016
HAUNTED is a particularly dark and violent tale, even for HELLBLAZER. An ex-flame of John Constantine’s is found murdered, spectacularly mind you, and, suspecting magic was involved, John goes on a rampage to find her killer in order to bring peace to her ghost. In typical Constantine fashion, John’s retribution is turned back on him in a most physical way as he burns yet another bridge or two while coercing the assists he requires.

John Higgins remains as the artist on this arc, and whereas his art for the previous storyline, SON OF MAN, had a cartoony, even comical, feel to it, his style has refined for this outing. Higgins’ crisp, thin ink work brings out a great indie style that is also all together British.

Warren Ellis’ script, however, is unnecessarily padded and unequally unnecessarily graphic. Gore, horror and over-ripe descriptions are par for the course in this title, but Ellis’ shocking violence and blatant hatred of women and children is both crude and lazy. I remember reading this story during its monthly publication run back in early 1999 and finding the tale to be one of the better ones leading up to Brian Azzarello’s run. While the plot and the machinations of the story workings themselves indeed make for a great Constantine read, and now re-read in collected form, the over-the-top violence comes across as gratuitous.

Ellis, however, does capture one of the more rounded Constantine voices, making this rogue the perfect London haunt.
Profile Image for Aaron.
913 reviews14 followers
March 4, 2008
Excellent distillation of John Constantine. Ellis gets this character, but I took one star off for the crummy art.
Profile Image for Taylor.
113 reviews3 followers
May 13, 2009
This is my favorite Hellblazer story arc...maybe it's just because I really like Warren Ellis...
Profile Image for Adam Stone.
2,062 reviews32 followers
September 16, 2023
After Brian Azzarello's crass misunderstanding of how to write Hellblazer comics, and Mike Carey's over-the-top apocalyptic epic, Warren Ellis takes the reader on a quieter, more personal Hellblazer where John Constantine, a few players that we've seen in Carey's run, and Chas (of course), all consult each other and reminisce while tracking down *checks the Writing Hellblazer For Dummies book* ex-girlfriend who died horribly because of her connection to magic.

Ellis throws just the right amount of meta into this story, with Constantine's conversations with old friends usually involving them letting him know that he's played out variations of this same story for years. There are even two perfectly timed panels where Constantine breaks the fourth wall just a smidge by looking at the camera, and smiling.

I don't remember Constantine smiling at all. It's delightfully creepy.

This is a must=read if you love the Hellblazer books. I have my fingers crossed that the rest of Ellils's run lives up to what he's done here.

TW: He does the thing that all 90s writers seem to want to do where he has villains be racist and get their come-uppance (hooray) but first you have to get through their problematic language (booo). Unlike, say Azzarello, though, Ellis at least restricts the shock language to one panel as opposed to spreading it across his entire run of comics.
Profile Image for Guilherme Smee.
Author 28 books192 followers
November 1, 2018
Às vezes eu fico desconfiado que, quando não está mexendo com Super-Heróis mesmo, se Warren Ellis consegue desenvolver histórias longas. Não existe dúvidas que Ellis se vira muito bem com histórias cultas. Magistralmente bem. Mas grandes arcos, como esse, da Mulher Escarlate, deixam a desejar. Ou talvez eu que tenha esperado demais dele num personagem que é a sua cara: John Constantine. O melhor desse arco é a inclusão de Map, o deus do metrô londrino e como ele é desenvolvido. No mais é um desfile de gore e escatologias em estilo Bukowski para chocar o leitor, como um bebê abandonado em meio às fezes da cracolândia. Constantine está tentando resgatar um espírito de sua amada, que está preso neste plano, porque foi transformada na Mulher Escarlate, o mito da "puta primordial", segundo Alesteir Crowley. Poderia ser uma baita história. Mas que não é, não é. E então se segue, neste encadernado, uma historinha curtinha, sobre um quartinho em que as pessoas enlouquecem e se matam, porque um homem não quer sair de lá. Aqui sim, Ellis manda ver. Bota pra fornicar mesmo! Essa é uma ótima história. Por isso essa minha teoria de que ele acaba mandando melhor nas curtas do que nas longas.
1,916 reviews5 followers
August 20, 2018
This volume brings with it the slight paranoia of Ellis along with the asides. It is different layouts than previous volumes. This one has a bunch of repeats towards the end. And some of the melancholy and nostalgic stories feel like filler. The newness of the layouts add a cinematic feel to the stories and also serve to separate us from John a bit. Not sure if it adds to the loneliness that seems to be coming from the sad fucker but there is something about this style that gives a new twist to this character.

It is Ellis writing. So, there is humour and words. Funny, thought there might be more wordiness but it didn't come to pass.
1,253 reviews8 followers
March 12, 2018
Sheesh that was gory. Having only seen the movie prior to reading this, I was definitely NOT ready for the amount of blood and snot in this very graphic graphic novel.

Constantine learns that an ex girlfriend has recently been brutally murdered and suspects that the murderer is a fellow magician. He gets help locating the bad guy and tortures him.

I'm not used to reading graphic novels outside of the Marvel/DC verses but despite the dark subject matter I am definitely intrigued.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Pritesh Patil.
Author 3 books19 followers
May 23, 2017
"I've seen Hell blaze through these streets."

There are few “Hellblazer” stories that end with anything remotely resembling a “feel good” ending, and yet that’s just the sort of feeling that “Haunted” evoked, even if the happy ending still involved a murdered innocent woman.

What.A.Tale.
Profile Image for Jay.
288 reviews9 followers
October 24, 2018
Constantine on the revenge warpath. I love it!
Profile Image for Jiro Dreams of Suchy.
1,387 reviews9 followers
March 3, 2023
S’what Magic’s for, innit? Fucking people, one way or the other

They always expect the monster and it’s always just some bloke.
Profile Image for Jerzy Baranowski.
216 reviews6 followers
December 28, 2024
Nie jest to najlepsza robota Ellisa. Wydaje się że Hellblazer po prostu nie jest dla niego.
Profile Image for Cassie.
609 reviews16 followers
March 30, 2025
Someone’s killed an ex of Constantine’s, and he’s gonna make sure they get theirs. Pretty nasty little book, just the horrible sorcerer it’s named after.
Profile Image for Alek Hill.
345 reviews
July 29, 2025
Just a good Constantine book that showcases the gritty world of the Hellblazer
Profile Image for Sarah.
5 reviews
July 26, 2019
This is a great book. Effective writing skills. Just love it
Profile Image for Krzysztof Grabowski.
1,877 reviews7 followers
February 23, 2022
Mój kolejny Constantine w ciągu ostatnich tygodni i tom, który nie odstaje wysokim poziomem od poprzednich, mimo kontrowersji jakie ostatnio pojawiły się wokół autora.

Znaczna część tego zbioru zajmuje przede wszystkich jedna historia. Znajoma Johna zostaje brutalnie, wręcz bestialsko zamordowana. Mimo, że magik widział ją ostatni raz bardzo dawno temu, to postanawia zaangażować się w sprawę. Warren mimo, że wtłącza sporą dozę okultyzmu, to wraca na stare tory ku realizmowi, bowiem w szóstym tomie nie uświadczymy wielu ponad naturalnych wydarzeń. Mimo to nie będzie na co narzekać.

Tak też mimo, że to opowieść, która prowadzi Constantine'a na trop kochanka ofiary, który robi sobie z niej coś w rodzaju świętej do gwałtu, to opowieść snuta przez Johna, jako narratora, skupia się w głównie na Londynie, jako miejscu-katalizatorze. To miasto jest tu brudne, straszne, niebezpieczne. John jest tylko trybikiem, który wie jak podchodzić do tematu. Smutna opowieść, ale z relatywnie szczęśliwym zakończeniem.

Potem mamy kilka opowiadań, luźno że sobą powiązanych. Mamy pewien niepokojący pokój, gdzie morderca dokonywał już od lat swoich haniebnych czynów. Takie coś musi odcisnąć miejsce na tym... Miejscu? Jest też "oda" do byłych Constantine'a czy spowiedź pewnego zbrodniarza wojennego. Mamy też w końcu kołyskę, która ma więzić w sobie nie-martwy płód samego Antychrysta.

Mamy też dosyć słynny one-shot, który sprawił, że Ellis zakończył współpracę z DC, bo wydawnictwo nie chciało go wydać, zwłaszcza że w między czasie doszło do maskary w jednej z amerykańskich szkół. Jak łatwo się domyślić, tematyka tej historii jest powiązana z zabójstwami w placówkach wychowawczych, dokonanymi przez dzieci. Mocny temat, aktualny. Pozostawiający rany, ale też pozwalający trzeźwo patrzeć na to co się dzieje.

Ellis niczym nie ustępuje Ennisowi jeżeli chodzi o makabrę, choć trzeba przyznać że wirtuozeria tego drugiego autora robi większe wrażenie, być może też z faktu, że Garth dłużej pracował nad marką. Niemniej mimo swojego krótkiego występu autor odcisnął swoje piętno na postaci, równie ważne, jak te innych autorów.

PS. Jeżeli chodzi o kreskę to miałem zastrzeżenie tylko w jednym zeszytów, bo sporo odstaje od reszty. Ale okładki wynagradzają to uchybienie. Są boskie.
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