Rating: 
Summary: Cornwell doesn't leave us hanging!
Review: ... In Bernard Cornwell's "Gallows Thief" the author changes gears abit (as well as genres) and give us a historical mystery procedural that is worthy of its classification. ... Set in Regency England, the book introduces us to Sandman, a hero of the Battle of Waterloo, who returns home to find his father's lost the family fortune (and committed suicide) and accompanying social standing. Rider is unemployed and, having previously sold his commission,is without a penny. His fiancee has canceled their wedding plans and he finds himself housed in a Drury Lane hotel of dire repute, or "flash house."But all is not lost. His skills as a cricket player, plus his ties with friends in high places, count for something, so it's not as if he has to sell himself on the streets. Well, almost, anyway. He is recommended to the Home Secretary to look into a petition from the mother of a young man who's been found guilty of murder and is only days from being hanged. His job is to ascertain that justice has been served and then the sentence can be carried out. Sandman takes the employment and, being the honest and justice-minded soul he is, soon begins having doubts as to the young man's guilt. Slowly, he enlists an intrepid band of partners and they progress through the case: Berrigan, a former sergeant also of the Waterloo campaign; his friend Lord Alexander; Miss Sally Hood, an actress and model; and Eleanor, the aforementioned former fiancee. However, as they have only seven days to find "cause" to overturn the conviction, they have to work with full speed ahead. Along the way, Cornwell's consummate research/background material support the general plot outline in typical Coarnwellian fashion. The author does not hesitate to dwell upon the abject social situations abounding in early 19th century England, from the court and prison systems to the religious areas. The social significance that he addresses does not go amiss, especially the zeal for the courts to hang as many as they can, ostensibly to deter crime. Sandman and other free thinkers have difficulty accepting this concept. "They don't hang as many in Scotland as we do in England and Wales. Yet, I believe the murder rate is no higher.Strange, wouldn't you say?" asks one of the characters. But the strength of "Gallows Thief" is in the presentation of Rider Sandman, a good, healthy, lively man who is not content to tolerate these unacceptable conditions of the human spirit, naive man that he sometimes is. He has a good heart (even though he thinks it's broken!). The book progresses well, for the most part, and it certainly leads one to believe that, surely, this is the first of a long series. History it is, but with a twist; it's England, warts and all. A good read. ...
Rating: 
Summary: A swinging yarn
Review: Bernard Cornwell has ranged over a vast time and space in his tales. In some he succeeds, as the regiments of fans of his Sharpe series will attest. In others he has swung and missed. So I approached this latest book with an open mind, not knowing whether I would race through it or put it down unfinished. I am happy to say that Cornwell has made a solid hit with this story. It is steadily paced action, building tension every step of the way until the very end, and it is very hard to put down without wanting to get back to see what happens next. The setting is London, post Waterloo, and at times the reader almost gags from the stink of open sewers and corruption high and low. It opens with a gruesome execution at Newgate Prison and ends with another, the tension reaching an unbearable point as the last chapter echoes the first and we feel the dread of the condemned at each step along the final walk from cell to scaffold. In between, we follow a new character, Captain Sandman, as he gains allies and enemies investigating a murder mystery. I hope we see more of him, and I rather think we will, as Cornwell leaves some plot strands dangling to be picked up again in the next novel. Underlying the action and tension there is a wealth of historical information and an examination of the system of crime and punishment in Georgian England. Never rammed down our throats, nor sugar-coated, but it is there, and we may think some deep thoughts along the way. All in all, this latest book is tightly written, filled with action, romance and tension. Strongly evocative of the place and time, and another big tick for Bernard Cornwell.
Rating:
Summary: Capital Punishment in the 19th Century
Review: Bernard Cornwell's novels are always so much fun to read! Every book he writes makes the reader a time traveller in which the setting, characterization, dialogue, social mores and culture are flawlessly presented within an absorbing plot. In THE GALLOWS THIEF, the reader witnesses the brutality, degradation, and fallibility of Britain's capital punishment statutes in the 19th century. Punishment is swift but there is also the possibility of the inevitable, that an innocent man will be hanged. The questions and problems that Cornwell presents in this entertaining, yet thought-provoking story are similar to modern day arguments against capital punishment. However Cornwell has created a drama with interesting characters and realistic dialogue that educates while it entertains.
Rating: 
Summary: Race against time
Review: Bernard Cornwell, famous for his Sharpe series, has now ventured into the historical whodunnit genre. While it was a good book overall, this reviewer felt that it was quite lightweight. The protagonist, Rider Sandman, has been tasked by the Home Secretary to determine the guilt or innocence of Charles Corday, due to be hanged in a week. The more Sandman investigates, the more convinced he is of Corday's innocence. But to steal Corday away from the gallows (hence the title) Sandman has to present hard evidence to the Home Secretary. There is nothing special about the characters in the book. Sandman is well rounded enough. He is more Poirot than Sam Spade; honest, intelligent and principled. Endearing to him will not be difficult. However, the rest of the cast seem like stock characters from any novel set in the 19th century. The rogue, the wench, a couple of rich aristocrats with manners of a pig...they're all there. There's even a surprise witness who naturally doesnt turn up till the end of the book to wrap things up nice and neat. All in all, veterans of crime fiction may not be impressed with this simple effort. Fans of Cornwell might want to try it for no other reason other than because it was written by their favourite author. But if you want to wait for the cheaper paperback version, I wont blame you. A 3 star book.
Rating:
Summary: Can we have more?
Review: Better known for his Richard Sharpe series, Cornwell, nevertheless, scores big with Gallow's Thief. Historical fiction, it is set in London, two years after Waterloo. It has all the usual ingredients of a sucessful historical (or detective, or mystery) novel - action, intrique, murder, sex, mystery. While the book does tend to formula in it's detective work (The backhanded compliment to Sherlock Holmes is appreciated.), all that is overcome by a wonderful cast of characters. Captain Rider Sandman is honorable, brave, consentious and, of course, poor as a church mouse. In order to keep body and soul together, he accepts the job of Inspector. In this case, he is given the uneviable task of determining the guilt or innocence of an already condemned man. Sandman's allies are a disparate group. Sally Hood, actress and sometime model for various painters, is Sandman's tutor in the slang and life of London's slums. Her want-to-be beau and eventually Sandman's strong right arm is the very capable Sergent Berrigan. Her elusive and mysterious brother is Jack a.k.a. Robin Hood, a notorious Highwayman. The club-footed Lord Alexander is his true, if somewhat flighty friend. Finally, there is Eleanor, Sandman's somtime finace. To add a bit more spice, Eleanor and Sandman are still desparately in love dispite her mother's objections. The opposition is rich, arrogant, and devoid of all scruples or any sense of honor. Members of the Seraphim Club consider themselves too rich or too well born to be subject to the law. The chase for the truth careens through the upper crust of English society, the slums of London and the normally bucolic English countryside. It is a wild and intriguing ride.
Rating:
Summary: Can we have more?
Review: Better known for his Richard Sharpe series, Cornwell, nevertheless, scores big with Gallow's Thief. Historical fiction, it is set in London, two years after Waterloo. It has all the usual ingredients of a sucessful historical (or detective, or mystery) novel - action, intrique, murder, sex, mystery. While the book does tend to formula in it's detective work (The backhanded compliment to Sherlock Holmes is appreciated.), all that is overcome by a wonderful cast of characters. Captain Rider Sandman is honorable, brave, consentious and, of course, poor as a church mouse. In order to keep body and soul together, he accepts the job of Inspector. In this case, he is given the uneviable task of determining the guilt or innocence of an already condemned man. Sandman's allies are a disparate group. Sally Hood, actress and sometime model for various painters, is Sandman's tutor in the slang and life of London's slums. Her want-to-be beau and eventually Sandman's strong right arm is the very capable Sergent Berrigan. Her elusive and mysterious brother is Jack a.k.a. Robin Hood, a notorious Highwayman. The club-footed Lord Alexander is his true, if somewhat flighty friend. Finally, there is Eleanor, Sandman's somtime finace. To add a bit more spice, Eleanor and Sandman are still desparately in love dispite her mother's objections. The opposition is rich, arrogant, and devoid of all scruples or any sense of honor. Members of the Seraphim Club consider themselves too rich or too well born to be subject to the law. The chase for the truth careens through the upper crust of English society, the slums of London and the normally bucolic English countryside. It is a wild and intriguing ride.
Rating:
Summary: This Sandman Keeps You Awake!
Review: Cornwell simply cannot be outdone in the historical adventure genre. While thoroughly describing the nature of the times with encyclopedic detail, we are never bogged down in dry facts: we can smell the noxious fumes of Newgate Prison, feel the disgrace heaped upon Sandman over his father's suicide and subsequent family downfall, worry over the skewed justice system that hangs for both petty thievery and grisly murder. We are aided in knowing the customs and colloquialisms of the middle and lower classes in that they are equally foreign to Sandman; we learn right along with him. If you are a Sharpe fan, don't expect nail-biting, in-your-face battles and sieges. While our hero, Rider Sandman, resides in the same era, he is no comparison to Sharpe in personality or vocation; this is strictly a murder mystery. Although no real clues per se, the journey to finding the killer is nonetheless enjoyable, both plot and characters full-fledged and engaging. This story is more about how Sandman deals with his new station in society, the varying strata of society, and the nature of people he meets and befriends throughout than it is about `who done it'. I would have liked to have seen more of the mysterious Jack "Robin" Hood, but Sandman's other allies make for a disparate, likable enough crowd. My one complaint is the anti-climatic ending. The suspense of the innocent's imminent death was irritatingly interrupted by hangman's procedures that had already been fully and adequately described in the beginning. The constant back and forth between the final "chase scene" and the hanging ruined the tension; you'd miss nothing if you skipped over the prison scenes at the end to get to the good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: This Sandman Keeps You Awake!
Review: Cornwell simply cannot be outdone in the historical adventure genre. While thoroughly describing the nature of the times with encyclopedic detail, we are never bogged down in dry facts: we can smell the noxious fumes of Newgate Prison, feel the disgrace heaped upon Sandman over his father's suicide and subsequent family downfall, worry over the skewed justice system that hangs for both petty thievery and grisly murder. We are aided in knowing the customs and colloquialisms of the middle and lower classes in that they are equally foreign to Sandman; we learn right along with him. If you are a Sharpe fan, don't expect nail-biting, in-your-face battles and sieges. While our hero, Rider Sandman, resides in the same era, he is no comparison to Sharpe in personality or vocation; this is strictly a murder mystery. Although no real clues per se, the journey to finding the killer is nonetheless enjoyable, both plot and characters full-fledged and engaging. This story is more about how Sandman deals with his new station in society, the varying strata of society, and the nature of people he meets and befriends throughout than it is about 'who done it'. I would have liked to have seen more of the mysterious Jack "Robin" Hood, but Sandman's other allies make for a disparate, likable enough crowd. My one complaint is the anti-climatic ending. The suspense of the innocent's imminent death was irritatingly interrupted by hangman's procedures that had already been fully and adequately described in the beginning. The constant back and forth between the final "chase scene" and the hanging ruined the tension; you'd miss nothing if you skipped over the prison scenes at the end to get to the good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent period detective thriller.
Review: England 1817, and an effete young artist is accused of the rape and murder of the wayward wife of a powerful man - the only possible sentence in these times is the gallows; but his mother has influence and secures an appeal, so as a palliative, Captain Sandman is hired to 'investigate' - i.e. confirm the Court's decision.
Unfortunately, Sandman is a man of principle, and he smells a rat - so when the apparently open-and-shut case proves to be more than it appears, he only has 6 more days to snatch the artist from the hangman.
However, he is less than qualified to achieve this goal, his only assets being his breeding, an explosive temper and a sense of justice. Not much ammunition, especially as the conspiracy involves some very vindictive and influential people. The story rattles along at a great pace, with plenty of intrigue, mystery and sub-plots, some romance and a good grasp of the mores and values of Georgian society - as one would expect from someone with Mr. Cornwell's portfolio. The suspense of the last chapter is nail-biting and also ties up some annoying apparent inconsistencies in the plot
.
As usual with Mr. Cornwell's books, the historical facts behind the fiction, along with some other interesting references, are outlined in an appended note. An excellent read; highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Gallows Thief
Review: Gallows Thief is a historical mystery set in early nineteenth century Britain. Full of snappy dialogue and marvelous period detail, the plot rattles along. The characters aren't fantastically deep, but they're entertaining, and Cornwell does a better job with women here than in some of his other books. While the mystery plot isn't wildly original, the book has more than enough unique qualities to keep it interesting. The descriptions of the gallows and the penal system are grim and the denouement is breathless. I was especially impressed that Cornwell managed to write this very successful book without ever resorting to what's arguably his greatest skill, huge gory battle scenes. It's an entertaining book and I recommend it.
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