{"id":3130,"date":"2013-07-24T06:00:57","date_gmt":"2013-07-24T10:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/?p=3130"},"modified":"2013-07-23T09:48:43","modified_gmt":"2013-07-23T13:48:43","slug":"the-tudor-conspiracy-by-c-w-gortner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/?p=3130","title":{"rendered":"THE TUDOR CONSPIRACY by C.W. Gortner"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The

\"n398881\"

US Publication Date: July 16, 2013<\/p>\n

St. Martin’s Griffin Paperback<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

5 Stars<\/p>\n

My Review:<\/p>\n

I loved this book. I was transported by C.W. Gortner’s historical novels, THE LAST QUEEN<\/a>, THE CONFESSION OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI<\/a>,\u00c2\u00a0and \u00c2\u00a0THE QUEEN’S VOW<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0and I adored the first of his spy thrillers, THE TUDOR SECRET<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0which introduces us to Brendan Prescott and his shadowy world of intrigue. So I was not surprised when I loved THE TUDOR CONSPIRACY<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The novel\u00c2\u00a0opens with the Princess Elizabeth a virtual prisoner at her sister’s court, unable to know whom to trust, cut adrift among enemies both for her precarious position so close to the throne and for her religious beliefs. When her trusted advisor, Robert Cecil, is banished, he sends the loyal Brendan Prescott to slip into the court of Queen Mary I, to spy for Elizabeth, and if possible, to get her to safety.<\/p>\n

When Brendan arrives he finds\u00c2\u00a0that nothing is what it seems. When his trusted friend and squire is murdered by poison, he realizes that it is\u00c2\u00a0not only the Princess Elizabeth whose life is\u00c2\u00a0in jeopardy. This book does a wonderful job of bringing the court of Bloody Mary to life.<\/p>\n

Of course,\u00c2\u00a0the book takes place before\u00c2\u00a0Mary begins burning Protestants, but the threat of what is to come looms on the horizon. Through Brendan, CW Gortner does a marvelous job of making history fresh and vivid. As much as I have read about Elizabeth I’s arduous climb to the throne, CW Gortner made me forget what I already knew, and immerse myself in his novel. I watched the Wyatt rebellion unfold on his pages all over again, and I was\u00c2\u00a0on the edge of my seat. CW Gortner asks the question that historians are still asking: Was Elizabeth involved in the Wyatt Rebellion and its efforts to overthrow her sister’s reign? When you read this page turner you may be surprised by the answer he finds.<\/p>\n

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Amazon, B&N and Goodreads limit me to 5 stars, but if I could, I would give this fabulous novel of intrigue, danger and unshakable loyalty a 6.<\/p>\n

\"The

\u00c2\u00a0UK Publication Date: July 18, 2013<\/p>\n

Hodder & Stoughton<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Description:<\/div>\n
Hunted by a shadowy foe in Bloody Mary\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s court, Brendan Prescott plunges into\u00c2\u00a0 London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s treacherous underworld to unravel a dark conspiracy that could\u00c2\u00a0 make Elizabeth queen\u00e2\u20ac\u201dor send her to her death in C.W. Gortner’s The\u00c2\u00a0 Tudor ConspiracyEngland, 1553: Harsh winter encroaches upon the realm. Mary Tudor\u00c2\u00a0 has become queen to popular acclaim and her enemies are imprisoned in\u00c2\u00a0 the Tower. But when she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s betrothed to Philip, Catholic prince of Spain, putting her Protestant subjects in peril, rumors of a plot to depose\u00c2\u00a0 her swirl around the one person whom many consider to be England\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s heir\u00c2\u00a0 and only hope\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe queen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s half-sister, Princess Elizabeth.<\/p>\n

Haunted by his past, Brendan Prescott lives far from the intrigues\u00c2\u00a0 of court. But his time of refuge comes to an end when his foe and\u00c2\u00a0 mentor, the spymaster Cecil, brings him disquieting news that sends him\u00c2\u00a0 on a dangerous mission. Elizabeth is held captive at court, the target\u00c2\u00a0 of the Spanish ambassador, who seeks her demise. Obliged to return to\u00c2\u00a0 the palace where he almost lost his life, Brendan finds himself working\u00c2\u00a0 as a double-agent for Queen Mary herself, who orders Brendan to secure\u00c2\u00a0 proof that will be his cherished Elizabeth\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s undoing.<\/p>\n

Plunged into a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a mysterious\u00c2\u00a0 opponent who hides a terrifying secret, Brendan races against time to\u00c2\u00a0 retrieve a cache of the princess\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s private letters, even as he begins to realize that in this dark world of betrayal and deceit, where power is\u00c2\u00a0 supreme and sister can turn against sister, nothing\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand no one\u00e2\u20ac\u201dis what\u00c2\u00a0 it seems.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US Publication Date: July 16, 2013 St. Martin’s Griffin Paperback   5 Stars My Review: I loved this book. I was transported by C.W. Gortner’s historical novels, THE LAST QUEEN, THE CONFESSION OF CATHERINE DE MEDICI,\u00c2\u00a0and \u00c2\u00a0THE QUEEN’S VOW\u00c2\u00a0and I adored the first of his spy thrillers, THE TUDOR SECRET\u00c2\u00a0which introduces us to Brendan Prescott …<\/p>\n

THE TUDOR CONSPIRACY by C.W. Gortner<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3130"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3141,"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3130\/revisions\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.ChristyEnglish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}