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The Drowned City

Daniel Pursglove, Book 1

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The Drowned City

By: K. J. Maitland
Narrated by: Nathan Turner
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Summary

Gunpowder and treason changed England forever. But the tides are turning and revenge runs deep in this compelling historical thriller for fans of C.J. Sansom, Andrew Taylor's Ashes of London, Kate Mosse and Blood & Sugar.

1606. A year to the day that men were executed for conspiring to blow up Parliament, a towering wave devastates the Bristol Channel. Some proclaim God's vengeance. Others seek to take advantage.

In London, Daniel Pursglove lies in prison waiting to die. But Charles FitzAlan, close adviser to King James I, has a job in mind that will free a man of Daniel's skill from the horrors of Newgate. If he succeeds.

For Bristol is a hotbed of Catholic spies, and where better for the lone conspirator who evaded arrest, one Spero Pettingar, to gather allies than in the chaos of a drowned city? Daniel journeys there to investigate FitzAlan's lead, but soon finds himself at the heart of a dark Jesuit conspiracy - and in pursuit of a killer.

©2021 Karen Maitland (P)2021 Headline Publishing Group Ltd Crime Thrillers Historical Historical Fiction Renaissance Thriller & Suspense England Fiction Revenge Mystery
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Critic reviews

"A dark and enthralling historical novel with a powerful narrative. The mysterious Daniel Pursglove has all the qualifications for a memorable series hero." (Andrew Taylor)

"Spies, thieves, murderers and King James I? Brilliant." (Conn Iggulden)

"This gripping thriller shows what a wonderful storyteller Maitland is." (The Times)
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I’ve listened to most of Karen Maitlands books and have really enjoyed most of them. This one, not so much, and the narration is a chief culprit. He actually has a good voice and does great accents but there are so many pauses where they shouldn’t be and things accented where they don’t need to be it really spoiled it for me. He could be a great narrator and I don’t get why no one at the recording studio pointed this out or gave him some direction. The story itself I didn’t feel was one of the authors best but if read properly might have been better. I found I was quite glad when it was over if I’m being honest. But don’t get me wrong, I really like a lot of Karen Maitlands books.

Spoiled by Narration

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Loved the story. Narrator suited the story perfectly, great voice. Looking forward to next book in the series 🤞

Great all-round

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I'm a big fan of Karen Maitland's books - I'm currently re-listening to Company of Liars for the 3rd time(!), but of course, this has the benefit of the great David Thorpe to read it. Unfortunately, the Drowned City doesn't and I found the north western accent (notably hanging on the 'g's at the end of words) distracting. Similarly diverting was his habit of breaking sentences at odd places, where I would have thought it should have been linked rather better. All in all a good story, especially as we now have a new character, and hopefully, David will return for the second (we assume) in the series.

Good story, distracting reader

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Narrative set in Bristol after Tsunami. Explores political chaos of religious loyalties under King James.

Jacobean murder mystery

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I hadn’t realised that this was by the Karen Maitland who wrote Company of Liars but had I known, that would have guaranteed I read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the story and characters and the particular setting. The Bristol flooding made a great backdrop to the story.

Excellent start to new series

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