8797999's review against another edition
4.0
I found this one a breeze to get through via whispersync and kindle.
A much more enjoyable story for the second outing of the series having moved on from the Plague to the Gret Fire of London. Very loosely based on real events with some real characters.
The plot was engaging and enjoyable albeit quite fantastical and with plenty of suspension of belief. As for historical accuracy a lot of leeway and creative license with the plot and situations.
I enjoy the characters except the mistresses of the King. Not fussed on their chapters but thankfully, not too many of those. Not that I care to know the King has a big dick either.
Not perfect by far but a much better read than the first book. I think I will finish the series. I have 3 days of Kindle Unlimited left, it is do-able at the speed I read. Wish me luck.
A much more enjoyable story for the second outing of the series having moved on from the Plague to the Gret Fire of London. Very loosely based on real events with some real characters.
The plot was engaging and enjoyable albeit quite fantastical and with plenty of suspension of belief. As for historical accuracy a lot of leeway and creative license with the plot and situations.
I enjoy the characters except the mistresses of the King. Not fussed on their chapters but thankfully, not too many of those. Not that I care to know the King has a big dick either.
Not perfect by far but a much better read than the first book. I think I will finish the series. I have 3 days of Kindle Unlimited left, it is do-able at the speed I read. Wish me luck.
elizabethberger's review against another edition
4.0
Better than the first instalment, though the 'secrets' revealed at the end in St. Paul's weren't exactly difficult to figure out. Once again several liberties are taken with historical accuracy, but it is an enjoyable story and I did feel I learnt something about the great fire of London.
emily_galloway's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I loved this book!! Perfect balance of escapism and entertainment.
Would recommend to someone who wants to feel grounded with historical events in a light hearted way - these books do for me what the Titanic film did for their audience if that makes sense - none of the characters or plot is real however the historical events and people are. A throughly enjoyable experience x
Would recommend to someone who wants to feel grounded with historical events in a light hearted way - these books do for me what the Titanic film did for their audience if that makes sense - none of the characters or plot is real however the historical events and people are. A throughly enjoyable experience x
opusfra's review
4.0
A pleasant surprise as CS Quinn takes Charlie Tuesday deep into the Great Fire of London and into his own complicated past in the Blackstone household. The story is fast and exciting. We learn the secret of the contents of the mysterious marriage trunk, and it's a doozy. Our distinctly unheroic monarch finally gets off his lecherous behind and delivers some much-needed kingliness as London threatens to burn to a cinder.
cookreadrepeat's review
5.0
Amazing book. Loved it from start to finish. Must admit to being biased when I chose to read this as I've read the first in this series awhile back, and fell in love with the narrative. The characters are so witty and tug at your heartstrings even the villain of the story Thomas Blackstone.
In this book, I loved the introduction of the royal family - namely Charles and James Stuart, King of England and Duke of York, their escapades with women and how they came to be back in London after living in Holland for so long.
Definitely recommending this one to all my book-loving friends.
You can find a longer review at my blog:
https://whereathousandwordspaintapicture.wordpress.com/
In this book, I loved the introduction of the royal family - namely Charles and James Stuart, King of England and Duke of York, their escapades with women and how they came to be back in London after living in Holland for so long.
Definitely recommending this one to all my book-loving friends.
You can find a longer review at my blog:
https://whereathousandwordspaintapicture.wordpress.com/
veronica87's review
3.0
3.25 stars
The second book in the Thief Taker series is set during the great London fire of 1666. In fact, the fire itself is used here as a plot to destroy England and bring down King Charles II. This time Charlie Tuesday has to team up with Lily Boswell, a cunning and resourceful gyspy woman, to ferret out the source of the plot. They each have their own reasons but decide that pooling their talents is better than going it alone.
Charlie's love interest from the first book, Maria, seems to be out of the picture and that suits me just fine. I never warmed to her and Lily seems like a much better match for Charlie and his lifestyle. Not that romance is a real factor in this book since both Charlie and Lily spend most of the story on the run and little things like survival are priority #1. For Charlie's part, I was relieved that there was no pining for Maria and not even a real sense of remorse at the loss of her. He seems to know that it was for the best, for both of them.
Much like the Matthew Corbett series, this series seems to be shaping up to have more of a focus on action-adventure than your straight-up mystery is wont to have. It's told in third person and offers more than just Charlie's POV. That's actually a negative for me with this story because I was most interested in following Charlie and Lily as they raced around London. But we also get the villain's third person POV as well as the goings-on in King Charles' castle. I understand needing the villain's POV, weird as it is, but I could've done without all the behind-the-scenes cattiness of the multiple royal mistresses. There are some events in the story that belie believability but it's still entertaining.
The second book in the Thief Taker series is set during the great London fire of 1666. In fact, the fire itself is used here as a plot to destroy England and bring down King Charles II. This time Charlie Tuesday has to team up with Lily Boswell, a cunning and resourceful gyspy woman, to ferret out the source of the plot. They each have their own reasons but decide that pooling their talents is better than going it alone.
Charlie's love interest from the first book, Maria, seems to be out of the picture and that suits me just fine. I never warmed to her and Lily seems like a much better match for Charlie and his lifestyle. Not that romance is a real factor in this book since both Charlie and Lily spend most of the story on the run and little things like survival are priority #1. For Charlie's part, I was relieved that there was no pining for Maria and not even a real sense of remorse at the loss of her. He seems to know that it was for the best, for both of them.
Much like the Matthew Corbett series, this series seems to be shaping up to have more of a focus on action-adventure than your straight-up mystery is wont to have. It's told in third person and offers more than just Charlie's POV. That's actually a negative for me with this story because I was most interested in following Charlie and Lily as they raced around London. But we also get the villain's third person POV as well as the goings-on in King Charles' castle. I understand needing the villain's POV, weird as it is, but I could've done without all the behind-the-scenes cattiness of the multiple royal mistresses. There are some events in the story that belie believability but it's still entertaining.
bookswithjk's review
3.0
This book picks up some time after Thief Catcher, but many of our characters return. This time around, Charlie is pulled into a mystery surrounding his key as the Great Fire sweeps through London.
Fire Catcher feels overly long. In the beginning, the cliffhanger chapters provided a nice way of building suspense and keeping intrigue. However, towards the end, this ploy is maddening, feeling more as an attempt to stretch the book to its final length. Also, there are plenty of characters who I feel have now become unnecessary - if we’re focused on this “great secret”, why do we need to know about the king and his court? In the end, they hardly provide anything towards the plot.
The two main characters felt very one dimensional. Our hero Charlie is also a man without flaw. Every time he runs into an obstacle, he figures out how to overcome it relatively quickly. There’s never a true moment where he’s completely defeated and struggling to rise again. For example, when he comes to after knocking himself out, he’s instantly picked up and directed to a prison that conveniently imprisoned Lily.
Lily herself seems like an interesting character. However, she’s like a female version of Charlie - not a thief taker, but she is a thief armed with knives and instantly providing information whenever Charlie can’t figure something out.
Now with our villain, I’m quite surprised to find out his role in the Great Fire. His motivations appear solid - he wants to purify his wife’s soul. Maybe it’s because his sister’s death unhinged him, but why didn’t he attempt to do this before in The Thief Taker?
Finally, the pacing. The biggest problem I have is that it doesn’t feel like there’s a fire happening. I normally think of fire as fast moving, and yet it feels like the fire is happening at a snail’s pace. Charlie points it out so we have an idea of where it’s happening and so that it builds up tension, but the characters spend so much time doing their task that it feels like the fire is miles away. Reading through the chapters, I noticed a formula starting to emerge:
1. Charlie notes where the fire is and determines he has time to finish his task.
2. They go in, look around, mull over what they find.
3. The fire reaches them and they have to devise a cunning way to escape.
This formula happens over and over again, and what results is another (but longer) cat-and-mouse chase with a lackluster payoff. I did not particularly enjoy what the great secret was since I was expecting something completely different and completely about Charlie’s bloodline.
Fire Catcher feels overly long. In the beginning, the cliffhanger chapters provided a nice way of building suspense and keeping intrigue. However, towards the end, this ploy is maddening, feeling more as an attempt to stretch the book to its final length. Also, there are plenty of characters who I feel have now become unnecessary - if we’re focused on this “great secret”, why do we need to know about the king and his court? In the end, they hardly provide anything towards the plot.
Spoiler
The two main characters felt very one dimensional. Our hero Charlie is also a man without flaw. Every time he runs into an obstacle, he figures out how to overcome it relatively quickly. There’s never a true moment where he’s completely defeated and struggling to rise again. For example, when he comes to after knocking himself out, he’s instantly picked up and directed to a prison that conveniently imprisoned Lily.
Lily herself seems like an interesting character. However, she’s like a female version of Charlie - not a thief taker, but she is a thief armed with knives and instantly providing information whenever Charlie can’t figure something out.
Now with our villain, I’m quite surprised to find out his role in the Great Fire. His motivations appear solid - he wants to purify his wife’s soul. Maybe it’s because his sister’s death unhinged him, but why didn’t he attempt to do this before in The Thief Taker?
Finally, the pacing. The biggest problem I have is that it doesn’t feel like there’s a fire happening. I normally think of fire as fast moving, and yet it feels like the fire is happening at a snail’s pace. Charlie points it out so we have an idea of where it’s happening and so that it builds up tension, but the characters spend so much time doing their task that it feels like the fire is miles away. Reading through the chapters, I noticed a formula starting to emerge:
1. Charlie notes where the fire is and determines he has time to finish his task.
2. They go in, look around, mull over what they find.
3. The fire reaches them and they have to devise a cunning way to escape.
This formula happens over and over again, and what results is another (but longer) cat-and-mouse chase with a lackluster payoff. I did not particularly enjoy what the great secret was since I was expecting something completely different and completely about Charlie’s bloodline.
jopalm's review
2.0
Having read the first in this series I looked forward to the arrival of Fire Catcher. However I found I soon got restless while reading and just did not get as caught up in the story this time around.
stephend81d5's review
4.0
this was given to me by net galley for a honest review.
easy going read but the character seemed more progressed than the first novel but this sequel was better than the first book as we continue the saga of charlie tuesday in search of his heritage with the great fire of london as the backdrop, liked the new character of lily as charlie's sidekick.
easy going read but the character seemed more progressed than the first novel but this sequel was better than the first book as we continue the saga of charlie tuesday in search of his heritage with the great fire of london as the backdrop, liked the new character of lily as charlie's sidekick.
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