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The Bloodless Boy
- Narrated by: James Gillies
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
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The Bloodless Boy
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Summary
Part Wolf Hall, part The Name of the Rose, a riveting new literary thriller set in Restoration London, with a cast of real historic figures, set against the actual historic events and intrigues of the returned king and his court....
The City of London, 1678. New Year’s Day. Twelve years have passed since the Great Fire ripped through the City. Eighteen since the fall of Oliver Cromwell and the restoration of a King. London is gripped by hysteria, and rumors of Catholic plots and sinister foreign assassins abound.
When the body of a young boy drained of his blood is discovered on the snowy bank of the Fleet River, Robert Hooke, the Curator of Experiments at the just-formed Royal Society for Improving Natural Knowledge, and his assistant Harry Hunt, are called in to explain such a ghastly finding - and whether it's part of a plot against the king. They soon learn it is not the first bloodless boy to have been discovered.
Meanwhile, that same morning Henry Oldenburg, the Secretary of the Royal Society, blows his brains out, and a disgraced Earl is released from the Tower of London, bent on revenge against the King, Charles II.
Wary of the political hornet’s nest they are walking into - and using scientific evidence rather than paranoia in their pursuit of truth - Hooke and Hunt must discover why the boy was murdered, and why his blood was taken.
The Bloodless Boy is an absorbing literary thriller that introduces two new indelible heroes to historical crime fiction. It is also a powerfully atmospheric recreation of the darkest corners of Restoration London, where the Court and the underworld seem to merge, even as the light of scientific inquiry is starting to emerge....
Critic reviews
"Wonderfully imagined and wonderfully written.... Superb!" (Lee Child)
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Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark Pack
- 03-09-23
Nearly three pages missing from audio version
Others have reviewed the book better than I could, so this is just to highlight that at the end of chapter 38, around three pages of text are missing from the audio version. In the audio version that chapter stops part way through a letter from Daniel Whitcombe.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DAVID HUGHES
- 17-07-22
An intriguing 17th century Murder mystery!
Meticulously researched, ingeniously plotted and full of historical verisimilitude, The Bloodless Boy is thoroughly enjoyable. And the audiobook narrator was the perfect choice!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Absodoodlelutely
- 10-02-22
The Royal Society dabbles in murder
The early founders of the 17th Century scientific organisation sit on both sides of this literally bloodless murder investigation.
All good historical fiction must deliver a gripping story alongside a slice of life and events from the era it features. This novel also has some of the real characters that forged their way into our history books. Here, Robert Hooke, the real-life Curator of Experiments of the Royal Society, is charged with discovering why the bloodless corpse of a three-year-old boy has been discarded in the mud of London's Fleet River.
The protagonist of the first in a series of books is Harry Hunt, Hooke's former assistant and an Observator of the Society. King Charles the Second features as an eager sponsor of Britain's age of enlightenment and various aristocrats and other scientists fall into place in either side of the conspiracy.
Cyphers, possible Catholic plots and veterans from the recent Civil War are used by debut author Robert J. Lloyd to whip up the mix of intrigue. Anyone who knows the history of that time will appreciate that the world of Christopher Wren, Hooke, Robert Boyle and a young genius called Isaac Newton are the real story of that era. The setting and characters of this book act as a useful modern day reminder of how brilliant that generation of scientific all-rounders were.
I applaud that Hunt is not an all-action hero but neither is he as well-rounded and interesting as James Marwood and Cat Lovett in Andrew Taylor's thrillers set in the same era. I'd also recommend any reader intrigued by that period to dip into the astonishing world of Samuel Pepys Diaries.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Will Day
- 25-11-21
Incredible!
I'm a convert to audio books and this, since I started, has been the most enjoyable so far.
The attention to detail and writing style took me to the late 17th century.
Gripping read. Going to re-read immediately,
Top debut book from a highly capable author.
Great narration too.
Thank you
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Mr
- 20-10-23
Pass on by
Long winded, overly wordy drivel.
Why use 1 word when 25 will do?
Don’t bother- look elsewhere
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Liz
- 02-12-21
Didn't live up to the reviews
I'm very disappointed in this book - it's had great reviews and is exactly the sort of book I usually enjoy - historical crime drama, with a science-y background and lots of period detail.
but for me, I found it buried the action even while it was happening so that I kept having to relisten to parts to notice what was happening. I listen to two or three books a day and this is the only one I've had to rewind on for more than the odd word. On many occasions I nearly gave up. Not least after the action droned on so much I missed the finding of not one, but two, bodies.
I've spent time trying to work out why this didn't work for me - there's so much that ticks the boxes, but I think it's a combination of the writing style being stodgy and the narrator being competent but not a good match with the work. So he's working himself up into action sequences, that are paced differently to his vocal talent.
it's an ok book. but having recently read Anatomy of a Ghost which is less well written but much more gripping, I feel rather sad that this didn't work for me. I'd give it a whirl if you're devoted to the genre, otherwise, there are better books out there for sure.
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2 people found this helpful