Dark Fire (Matthew Shardlake 2)

Welcome to the 16th century world of the lawyer Mathew Shardlake, a hunchback who is a skilled scholar and a savvy Detective all rolled into one.

Dark Fire takes place a few years after Dissolution and sees him defending the niece of a friend who has been accused of murdering her 12 year old cousin Ralph.

With the case surely lost because the judge is eager to see the girl pressed for not pleading, Mathew gains time to help her through Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII's Vice General who wants Mathew to do a job for him, a job that Mathew knows will not be easy or for that matter with dangers lurking in every corner.

In this book we are introduced to Barek, an insolent young commoner with some learning who on his father's side is descended from the ancient faith of Judea, in Dark Fire we watch the jaded Mathew and the shrewd Barek slowly form a grudging relationship, based on their abilities to use their brains together and come up with some startling answers to some frightening questions.

Dark Fire is actually two stories, who actually murdered the 12 year old boy and who has the formula to Greek Fire, an ancient weapon with modern ramifications.

With murders happening all over the place, a mad Grandmother hell bent on preserving her family honour, along with a power struggle between Thomas Cromwell and the Duke of Norfolk, and a whole heap of other exciting threads to bring together we have book filled with intrigues, dark secrets and even darker tragedies.

I really enjoyed Dissolution but I enjoyed Dark Fire even more and the hunchback lawyer protagonist in my opinion is a new breed of hero, a person with a disability in a time when disability was not accepted, not only that he is a lawyer, a man of letters, a man of compassion and a man of honour.

I am really looking forward to the next instalment in this series of book which I think will be equally as interesting and intriguing.

A cracking good read for those cold lonely winter nights when you want something intelligent to get your teeth into.

Excellent!


Another great Shardlake Tale   October 21, 2005
 26 out of 26 found this review helpful

This is another cracking little story from Sansom. I had really liked Dissolution the first book, I had enjoyed it immensely and was looking forward to this one.Dark Fire is a little gem. It has a great story very well tied into the Tudor times. Its full of the political intrigue of the era and life of the people.
Shardlakes detective work is excellent and its very well done they way the strand of Elizabeth is worked into the Dark Fire mystery. I hope we get at least another Shardlake Tale out of Sansom. I think Henry the VIII has two more wifes to go.
I'd highly recommend the book and Dissolution too if you come across it.


Terrific read   September 9, 2005
 11 out of 11 found this review helpful

I enjoyed this far more than Dissolution, probably as Shardlake's sidekick, Jack Barak (what a great name for this gruff man), is far more engaging than Michael (?) of Dissolution. Also the parallel plots of the Greek Fire and Elizabeth are far more interesting and human. Personally, the Elizabeth plot line kept me enthralled in the book more than the Greek Fire plot but both have terrific denouements.

Sansom really does write superior historical fiction and the reader really gets the impression that he has thoroughly done his research. It is all worthwhile as these books deserve to be read by a wide readership.

My only niggle is that I still don't fully engage with Shardlake. I find him to be a little of a romantic fool. I guess that may be intentional to make him more human, prone to error and flawed, but I just don't feel the need for it. It makes it difficult to be sympathetic to his character. Maybe he will grow on me as the series continues. I look forward to that journey.


Surprising!   August 16, 2005
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

At first sight I did not think I would like this book. Following a recommendation from a friend I decided to read it and am very glad I did. The author creates the sense of belonging to another age whilst conveying ruthlessness, evil behaviour, religious tension and more within the context of a gripping story of murder and intrigue. This book deserves to be up the charts and once it gets onto the radar of the avid reader I think this will be seen on many tubes and trains in the coming months.


Dark and Dangerous   July 13, 2005
 7 out of 8 found this review helpful

This is a Tudor-time race-against-time romp thriller, with the unlikely hero, lawyer Matthew Shardlake making his second appearance. CJ Samson's second effort slightly has the edge on his first (the also very commendable Dissolution) because it builds on the dimensions which the first only touched on. Aside from the story elements (which are creative, well researched and do grip and hold), it is the atmospherics which give the book its added-value. Samson immerses the reader in the fear and frustrations of the perplexed populace living in fear of the (flighty) whims of the tyrant Henry XIII; while he relates well the (often Machiavellian) political plays by the powerful men immediately below the King (who also happened to live in fear of the (flighty) whims of the tyrant Henry XIII).