Medusa's Shame - The Sacred Throne Series Book 1 by Robert Southworth - A Review

 

The Classical gods are fickle entities; divine beings yet all too easily driven by the human traits of jealousy, lust and vengeance. The inhabitants of Olympus demand their worship and adoration from mortals, yet all too often see humanity as nothing but mere pawns to play against one another, regardless of the resultant tragedy, and so the story unfolds …

Among the hotchpotch of Bronze Age Greek city states stands the kingdom of Mycenae.  Its king, Atreus, wears the crown upon a troubled brow; his brother Thyestes coverts the throne and moves against him in the shadows. Through treachery Thyestes takes the city and throne, killing Atreus. The usurper would have killed the princes Menelaus and Agamemnon as well, were it not for Atreus’ trusted general Pallas leading his charges out of the city.

Hunted, and fearing for their lives, the princes are met by a mysterious hooded figure, who seems to possess uncanny abilities. Calling himself Thanatos, their guide leads the fugitives through a maze of mines to seek exile aboard waiting vessels on the coast. After a frustrating failure to seek refuge from King Priam of Troy, an embittered and vengeful Agamemnon joins his brother Menelaus in Sparta, where they are adopted by the aged king Tyndareus. Knowing that Agamemnon seeks revenge against Thyestes and to regain the throne of Mycenae, King Tyndareus names Menelaus as his heir. Both princes marry daughters of Tyndarereus, Agamemnon to Clytemnestra, while Menelaus has a somewhat difficult marriage to Helen, soured early on in their relationship by Helen’s youthful impropriety.

King Thyestes of Mycenae, would seek the deaths of his nephews and increase his wealth and power in the process. He builds an alliance with neighbouring states, built upon threats and coercion, to conquer Sparta...

Robert Southworth is an accomplished author of historical fiction, known for his works on Spartacus and Jack the Ripper (See my review of The Ripper Legacies Here) . In his unfolding Sacred Throne series, while reinterpreting the world of the Illiad, he is able to cut loose from the boundaries of historical fiction and introduce the fantastical. It’s a freedom to be enjoyed and have fun with, and the author's enjoyment shows in Mr Southworth’s wonderful tale.

In this world the gods and demi-gods walk among us. Centaurs haunt the woods on the edge of civilisation and monsters can be summoned from the underworld and Tartarus by those with the power to do so.

The characters come to the fore, the wise Menelaus, the brutal Agamemnon (one would not want him as an enemy), the cruel  and despotic Thysetes, the peaceable Centaur Airlea,  and the manipulative puppet master that is Thanatos; bending all to his will, sometimes subtlety, but all too often not! The author weaves the threads of his characters with a rare skill, brutal and bloody and yet also humorous at times, creating a rich and colourful tapestry in the reader's imagination.

It’s always a good measure of a book when the reader positively devours the imagery and tale, even more so when the eureka-like ending leaves the reader desperate to continue the story, as pieces tumble into place. Medusa’s Shame is such a book. Bravo Mr Southworth, this reader eagerly awaits book 2!

Medusa's Shame is available as kindle and paperback at Amazon

You can view all of Robert Southworth's work and enjoy his regular blog pieces at Robert Southworth-author.com/home

The Ripper Legacies by Robert Southworth

Jack the Ripper, Saucy Jack  -names synonymous with murder and mystery and terrible crimes unsolved…

The Ripper Legacies are a trilogy of books consisting of The Reaper’s Breath, The Reaper’s Touch and The Reaper’s Kiss.

In The Reaper’s Breath the scene is set, we are transported to the filth and grime of Victorian London, a semi-lawless place of dockyards, crumbling tenement slums, blind alleys and snickleways. Within this world society is split between those of obscene and visible wealth and those held captive in crippling poverty. Into this world is the mysterious Jack the Ripper, a murderer of women forced to sell their bodies to survive. What sets these murders apart is the Ripper’s modus operandi; each victim is subjected to extreme butchery – Jack sees himself as an artist with the blade.

From London we are taken to Cloveney Hall – a country estate home of the Harkness family. Within these walls resides the young William Harkness. William has his destiny plotted for him, heir to his father Simeon’s, fortune, set to wed Emily his childhood sweetheart. Resentful of his father, who he blames for his mother’s passing, William rejects this path and joins the army. Captain William Harkness narrowly avoids death in Afghanistan during the disastrous Battle of Maiwand and returns to Britain scarred, both mentally and physically. He finds solace and comfort in drink and the arms of a young woman called Mary Kelly. When Mary dies under the Ripper’s blade, William’s lust for vengeance leads to his recruitment to Slaughter Yard. Under the wings of the Metropolitan Police, Harkness gathers a group of trusted individuals to hunt down the Ripper, without the constraints of the Police’s code of conduct.

It becomes clear that the Ripper is all too aware of Slaughter Yard, can Harkness outwit his cunning opponent? And what of Emily, now trapped in an abusive marriage?

In the Reaper’s Touch, Harkness and his comrades at Slaughter Yard continue the hunt, now convinced they face more than one individual. The Ripper has now changed target, not content with the slaughter of ladies of the night the Ripper is killing prominent individuals and seems intent on raising the racial tensions in the burgeoning metropolis of London. The nature of the Perpetrator(s) become more apparent with William and his men actively targeted. Fortunately, William has come to terms with his father as all hell breaks loose pursuing the men of Slaughter Yard to Cloveney.

In The Reaper’s Kiss  the Ripper emerges once again after three years since his last reign of terror. William Harkness and his comrades at Slaughter Yard have kept watch certain that the Ripper and his  organisation would emerge once more to inflict his bloody terror on London again. With the backing of his father Simeon, the investigation finds financial tentacles about the empire. Slaughter Yard begins cutting them one by one forcing the monster from the shadows.

Each  book of the trilogy can stand alone as  a novel, but its clear in the first two that a complete resolution is still to be reached.  Personally, I devoured all three one after the other over the course of a  few days. For a week I was walking fearfully in my minds’ eye, experiencing the menacing paranoia of the grimy streets of Victorian London. What death lurks in the shadows? Were those footsteps heard behind?

The author has the skilful ability to lob a shocking twist  into the story, just when you think you know who the perpetrator of evil is you realise you’ve been tricked, just as Harkness has been duped. There is no real happy ever after as the Ripper’s influence has moulded Harkness, unbeknown to him.

Five stars for each book, dare you face the Reaper?

The Ripper Legacies are available as ebooks, audiobooks and paperbacks on
Amazon