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Revision as of 17:02, 30 April 2013
, 17:02, 30 April 2013no edit summary
It's 1648 and the embers of Charles I's reign start to fade as Britain slowly turns the monotone colour of Oliver Cromwell's Commonwealth. However, Royalist passion still exists and it's up to Sir Mortimer Shay, the Comptrollerate-General for Scrutiny and Survey, to gather the intelligence, maintain his spy network and fan the embers towards the Royalist victory for which he longs. He's a wily veteran so not easily stopped but among the confusion and brutality that tears Britain in half, former lawyer Cromwell's spymaster John Thurloe is the man charged with the task.
This is the second novel from [[:Category:Robert Wilton|Robert Wilton]], a civil servant who has been the private secretary to three Ministers of Defence and the Kosovan Prime Minister's advisor. So how would we imagine someone with these credentials writing? In a dry, slam-in-the-research way perhaps? Not a bit of it! That'll teach us to judge an author by his day job. Robert Wilton writes like a combination of [[:Category:Hilary Mantel|Hilary Mantel]], Graham Greene, [[:Category:Philippa Gregory|Philippa Gregory]] and [[:Category :John le Carre|John Le Carre]]. On second thoughts scratch that. Robert Wilton writes like Robert Wilton providing an absorbing story, great twists and facts that sink in via osmosis rather than a sledge hammer. Indeed, he's rather excellent.
Like his first novel the Napoleonic ''The Emperor's Tide''/''The Emperor's Gold'' (depending on the version), ''The Traitor's Field'' is based on the shady Comptrollerate for Scrutiny and Survey. It's so shady in fact that, when I search-engined the now defunct government department to provide some background, only Robert Wilton's books surfaced. However, the author gives us a pretty good idea of its purpose as Sir Mortimer inveigles himself into enemy Parliamentarian circles plus motivates and amasses Royalist sympathisers while intercepting correspondence of a delicate nature while order collapses around him.
