Customer Reviews
Don't judge a book by its cover - Sadly disappointed - By: Hard To Please, 19 Aug 2008 
I was really looking forward to this book being a lover of Crime/Thirllers & Tudor history. I thought this would be right up my street & it seemed to be getting lots of good reviews on Amazon. Story surrounds Shardlake - lawyer & officer of Thomas Cromwell - who is sent to a monastery to investigate a murder. The book looked great & I began it with great excitement but I have to say I found it slow, dull, predictable & very put downable. Has some similarities to Name of the Rosein atmosphere (but obviously not as good) but I won't be reading any more of his.
Fantastic historical crime novel - totally unmissable - By: Ismelda, 09 Aug 2008 
The weaving of historical detail into a complex storyline is masterful & I found this novel totally compelling. Sansom is expert at evoking the sounds & smells of Londonin the 1500s, & developing his characters as the story progresses. His use of language is rich & expressive,in some ways reminiscent of Hardy & Dickens, but with great pace & clever crime thriller plot. What really impressed me was the way that the reader's sympathy for the characters portrayed - including Shardlake - wavers & changes through the story, making them much more convincing. I read this straight through, then rushed off to buy Dark Fire.
Sadly disappointing - By: Patience, 16 Jul 2008 I was beginning to think I was the only person who found this book to be disappointing, after reading all the 5-star reviews on Amazon, & my family telling me I had to read it as it was 'wonderful, terrific' etc. I'm afraid I was disappointed. Firstly, I could not sympathise with ANY of the characters, especially Shardlake. I was disappointed that almost the whole story takes place within the monastery walls, which made me feel quite claustraphobic, longing to get out & see a bit more of the life & politics of the time! Although it seems historically sound & I enjoyed the little gems of information about the reformation & dissolution of the monasteries, & of lifein those times, the plot just didn't grab me at all. It just seemed to be a series of one murder after another, happening to people I hadn't been able to symapthise with or identify with hardly at all. By the end I was just skipping whole paragraphs to get to the end & really couldn't have cared less 'whodunnit'. I can't understand how people have given it 5 stars! Uberto Eco's Name of the Rose is far superior...and maybe spoiled me?
Brilliant book - By: Lindsey S. Makin, 20 Jun 2008 There aren't many books that can hold my attention but this one did. I saw an advertisment for C.J Sansom's book entitled, "Revelation" when I was on a trip to London recently & remarked I fancied reading it to which my mum replied that she already had 3 C.J Sansom books. I started with this, "Dissolution". I was hooked from the start. I really did not want it to end. It's a really enjoyable read & I'm onto my next one now. Apparently there are 4in the Shardlake series so I've got some reading ahead of me! If you have an interestin history, then this is a really impressive read.
Excellent stuff - By: Gassucker, 20 Jun 2008 
What an excellent read this was. Gripping from begining to end & left me wanting more from C J Sansom. Well ballanced characters & a believable plot all the way through. As good as it gets for this type of fiction & absolutely worth the read.
