The Godless Man: A Mystery of Alexander the Great

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Alexander, Great Mystery--nice
Review: After his great victory at Granicus, Alexander rests at Ephesus, a large Greek city of Asia Minor. Yet, although he has achieved victory in a battle, Persia remains strong and its fortress city of Miletus seems impregnable--and essential to Alexander's hopes for continued conquest. Worse, Ephesus, like many Greek cities, is torn between parties who use every opportunity to make war on one another. Persia's spymaster is using this civil war to keep Ephesus in turmoil, and to threaten Alexander's word, his life, and his hopes for the future.

Alexander turns to his physician, Telamon, to discover the true explanation of a classic closed door mystery--the murder of a group of Oligachs within the sealed walls of the Temple of Hercules--after Alexander had given his word that they would be safe. The Persians attempt to destroy the myth of Alexander before they kill the man, and Telamon resolves to find the true spies within the city. With a little help from his beautiful Celtic assistant, Cassandra, and less help from Alexander's spymaster, Aristander, but with a lot of the logic he gained from studying under Aristotle, Telamon peels away at the veils of secrecy that pervade so much of Ephesus.

Author Paul Doherty writes convincingly and compellingly of Alexander's conquest. Badly outnumbered, deep in the enemies territory, Alexander has enough problems from the Persians, yet his Greek 'allies' can be even more dangerous. Doherty's Alexander is powerfully, yet humanly drawn--with all of the arrogance you'd expect in a man who intends to conquer the world, yet with the keen intelligence of the man who, in all history, came closest to doing just that. Telamon, too, is a believable, yet admirable character. The slowly evolving relationship between Telamon and Cassandra adds just a hint of spice to a well-served mystery.

Rating:
Summary: Beware of a Greek bearing a title!
Review: Paul Doherty (or P.C. Doherty, or Paul Harding, or Michael Clynes, or Anna Apostolou, etc., take your pick) usually writes of medieval England. His Brother Athelstan series, his Sir Roger Shallot series, his Canterbury Tales series, and his Hugh Corbett series are all riveting accounts of Merry Olde told with great interest and authority on the time and place. Doherty, certainly a learned man in his own "write," is well documented. His Egyptian series and now his Alexander the Great works probably only show how erudite he is!

"The Godless Man," the second of the Alexander the Great tomes, seems to lack not only the enthusiasm but the documentation Doherty usually provides to become really thorough. Granted, this is a work of fiction and authors do not have to be historically accurate or even convincing, for, after all, it's the storyline that primarily counts, not incidental elements.

Taking on Alexander the Great is a more daunting task that concentrating on one of Chaucer's pilgrims! Of course, "The Godless Man" is not really about Alexander; instead, it is the story of Telamon, who is The Great's physician. Assisted ably by Cassandra, Telemon must solve the puzzle of a mass murder in the Temple of Hercules in the newly occupied city of Ephesus. And such a quandry, as the denizens of that capital city are not too keen to help the occupying force, concerned with their own immediate problems. They've seen occupying armies come and go and they suspect that the Macedonians won't hang around either!

But Alexander is insistent that these murders (and subsequent ones to keep the plot suspenseful) be solved, for it reflects directly upon him and his abilities to occupy a conquered city.
Telamon, a childhood friend of Alex's, rises to the occasion and some 300 pages later succeeds.

Doherty seems intent, himself, upon a conquering of sorts--to conquer the world of historical fiction. And may he succeed, as he's a delightful writer to read. However, veering away from England seems to lose something in its translations. This book is worth the read, but arguably he should concentrate on his own native shores, or else go beyond what he has presented and work for a more mesmerizing plot. He seems to spend too much time trying to justify what he's doing in time frame in the first place. The subtitle of the book is "A Mystery of Alexander the Great" and is a bit misleading. Probably few historical figures are more interesting than Alexander and Doherty gives little insight (other than to proclaim emphatically that he and Hephaestion were NOT lovers!)into one of the greatest generals of all time. Fans of Doherty (and I am one) won't flee the gates, however. Doherty deserves his praise!

Rating:
Summary: Two out of Three Ain't Bad
Review: There are actually three mysteries in this novel. The first is who killed the men inside the temple locked from the inside? The second is who killed the old man who hid the gold? And the final is who is the Persian spy, known as the Centaur?

The first mystery is handled admirably: all the clues are there, and it's one of the more clever locked-room mysteries I've come across in the last few years.

The second mystery is handled nearly as well, though some jumps of reasoning are necessary.

The third mystery, however, disappointed me. I felt there wasn't enough information given up front to solve the mystery. There was some information about the guilty party that seemed to come out only when the detective, Telamon, was giving his solution.

Still, two out of three ain't bad. The characters are well drawn, especially Alexander, and the war scenes are well thought out and written. Much better than the previous Alexander mystery by Mr. Doherty, which did not play fair with the clues. Thanks to this book, I'm looking forward to his next one.

Rating:
Summary: Two out of Three Ain't Bad
Review: There are actually three mysteries in this novel. The first is who killed the men inside the temple locked from the inside? The second is who killed the old man who hid the gold? And the final is who is the Persian spy, known as the Centaur?

The first mystery is handled admirably: all the clues are there, and it's one of the more clever locked-room mysteries I've come across in the last few years.

The second mystery is handled nearly as well, though some jumps of reasoning are necessary.

The third mystery, however, disappointed me. I felt there wasn't enough information given up front to solve the mystery. There was some information about the guilty party that seemed to come out only when the detective, Telamon, was giving his solution.

Still, two out of three ain't bad. The characters are well drawn, especially Alexander, and the war scenes are well thought out and written. Much better than the previous Alexander mystery by Mr. Doherty, which did not play fair with the clues. Thanks to this book, I'm looking forward to his next one.

Rating:
Summary: A very intriguing mystery!
Review: This is an excellent book. But, if you're looking for a story specifically about Alexander the Great...this isn't it. The story revolves mostly around his physician and his ability to use his extraordinary sense of observation to put clues together and collect information for the King. At first, when starting the book, I was a little disappointed that Alexander wasn't the focal point of the story. He almost becomes an after-thought in the scheme of things. But, the further you get into the story, the more you become ensconced in the mystery and can't wait to turn the page and get more clues. Dispite the fact that the title is a tad misleading, it's still an excellent read. I enjoyed it a lot.