Wolf On A String - Thorndike Press Large Print Mystery Novel | Perfect for Book Clubs & Mystery Lovers

I've followed Benjamin Black from the start, with the wonderfully curmudgeonly Quirk books, the odd "Lemur," and the breathtaking "Blackeyed Blonde" -- when I read he was doing a novel set in 17th-century Prague, I confess, I thought, "Oh dear, I hope this isn't dull." It isn't. It is as far from dull as Alpha Centauri is from Earth. A hot-blooded thriller of palace intrigue, "Wolf" is by turns lyrical, hilarious, and most of all compelling in its mysteries and whodunit elements.You can feel the fate of Europe, perched in those terrifyingly pregnant moment just before the onslaught of the Thirty Years War, the bloodiest politico-religious war in history. (I knew next to nothing about the Hapsburgs or the TY War until I started reading Wolf, and a quick back study on Wikipedia was enough to give me sufficient background to thoroughly enjoy the novel's setting and implications.) Not only the political and Catholic-verussProtestant aspects, but also the tensions between ardent students of alchemy and magic and the pull of a more modern, rationality-based science. (A glorious night out drinking with Johannes Kepler plays a critical role in the story, even giving it its title.) And throughout, the narrative soars along on some of the most beautiful, stunning use of the English language I've ever read -- like Updike at his finest, only with a nearly Shakespearean finesse of antiquity to it. Reading it will stretch your vocabulary -- but it's worth it! I've rarely experienced such sheer joy at the pure reading of the words -- I found myself highlighting sentence after sentence, just because they were utter gems of sound and sense. I'm ashamed to say, I have not yet read any John Banville (the novelist behind the Benjamin Black pseudonym), but if Wolf's style is any indication, that's where I'm heading next!