Tags
British occupation 1765-1947, cults, detectives, East India Company, historical fiction, India, missing persons, mystery stories
“From the thrilling prolog to the satisfying conclusion, former journalist and nonfiction author Carter’s first foray into fiction hooks the reader into a ripping adventure ride, full of danger, conspiracy, and trickery. Young William Avery, a soldier in the service of the British East India Company in 1837 India, receives an unexpected assignment. He is to accompany Jeremiah Blake, a secret political agent with an astonishing talent for languages and Sherlock Holmesian disguises, on a mission to find the scandalous British writer Xavier Mountstuart, who is missing. Each twist and turn of the duo’s journey draws them deeper into the mystery of the sinister Thuggee cult and closer to uncovering the shocking truth at the heart of the puzzle of Mountstuart’s disappearance. VERDICT Carter’s clever historical thriller is a winner.–Barbara Clark-Greene (Reviewed November 15, 2014) (Library Journal, vol 139, issue 19, p76)
“Totally engrossing — the sort of story that makes you forget that there are other books stacked next to your bed, waiting to be read.”–Michael Lewis, The New York Times Book Review
“[A] yarn reminiscent of adventures by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”—The New York Post