*Many thanks to Netgalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
This is an unusual novel offering all kinds of genres and adventures, and is a truly good example of historical fiction, with descriptions of Burma and mid-19th century London, and with atmosphere that should be there in such novels. Recommend!

In the mid-19th Century the East India Company was fighting a war against the Burmese. A group of men were selected for a 'suicide mission' in order to steal a valuable cargo of rubies - officially the venture never took place and the survivors were lost from records. this survivors however had suffered torture from their captors and the few remaining were afflicted by madness or substance abuse. When a body is found in the sewers London tortured in the same way, the company leader knows that it was one of his men and he sets out to find him before others die the same way.
At times this book is heartrending, at times the action skips along but for long periods the story seems to flounder and wallow. These long sections of little action and little except philosophising annoyed me somewhat as I felt that book never really reached the heights that I hoped it would from the beginning.

The book is really a most interesting historical travelogue and a story of exciting detective adventure that follows the journeys of Sgt Bowman. It starts with him as a soldier serving in the East India Company when he is selected to lead a small detachment on a secret mission up a Burmese river. They were all killed or captured and only the Sgt and ten other men after being severely tortured survived to be repatriated on an exchange of POWs. The Sgt then becomes a bobby in Victorian London that is gripped with the stench of sewage that has overwhelmed the city and flooded the Thames. When he finds a body with all the hall marks of the torture that he had suffered in Burma he concludes that the murderer must be one of the surviving soldiers. The trail leads him to the US where he is led west following a rail of similar dead bodies. Thereby the reader is submerged in all the scenes and cultures of the Wild West, visiting the townships that to become cities and experiencing the pioneering embryo utopian communities that were started and following the wagon trains of the pioneers. After many trials and tribulation his mission is finally accomplished with him also to find release from his own demons with a good woman.

A raw tale about raw men who have an odd idea about the ways things work in society. Having written that I would offer a more truthful sentence would read - A raw tale about raw men who know the ways things work in society.

There will always be (wo)men around the fringes of society, there to do the unsavoury things that those with some semblance of power feel the need to do. This makes the book even more of an interesting read because the "actors on stage" for this book are a stark reminder that, even in the 21st Century, fiction such as this book is much closer to fact than most people would care to admit. This book was a good read as, calling it an enjoyable read, would, likely, mislead.

Now looking forward to the arrival of "Equator" in March 2019.

A dark, atmospheric and enthralling book that keep you hooked since the first pages and never let you down.
It's a historical mystery, sometimes violent and dark and sometimes humouros and fun to read.
Even if some part were quite violent for my taste I was not able to stop reading as I wanted to know what was coming next.
Wonderful, well researched and well written.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Quercus Books and Netgalley for this ARC

The story begins with Sergeant Bowman and his ten chosen men who are captured while on a secret mission in Burma. On his return to London in 1858 Bowman is a much changed man with a drink and drug habit and is suspended from his job as a beat bobby accused of murder - the victim being one of the ten from the mission. The style of murder suggests to Bowman it's another of the ten and he decides to investigate. His investigations take him to three continents.
This is an epic tale which I enjoyed but found it dragged in parts for me.

Its going to be hard to find the words that will do justice to this incredible book. I stumbled upon it totally unexpectedly, just because i loved the cover so much. I'd never heard of the author, so didnt know what to expect.

Turns out i would never have guessed just what i'd picked it. What a phenomenal book. I've never quite read anything like it. It's historical fiction, it's a thriller, a murder mystery, a journey of growth and discovery, of adventure and love and loss and grief. Its a vast work of epic proportions that blew my mind.

Bowman is a protagonist unlike anyone i've read before. His story is so powerful, it hits home on so many levels. He's no hero, but nor is he a terrible villain. He flits between the many grey areas in between, but he is compelling and honest and real. His shortfalls and constant stumbles plague him from one side of the globe to the other, but he's driven by what we discover is the decency deep within him.

From the jungles of Burma, to the slums of Victorian London, right across the world to the shores of a virgin San Francisco, Retribution Road is one hell of a journey. The large cast of characters are a joy to read, as are the authors vivid and stark descriptions.

Highly recommended, so glad I had a chance of reading this. Can't wait to see what the author produces next. Incredible.

Set during the 1850s Retribution Road is about an ex English soldier fighting his demons and understanding his life.

The book is very well written and keeps you absorbed throughout.

The author has clearly undertaken significant research as the story and challenges feel authentic

Highly recommended

I have tried and failed to write a coherent review of Retribution Road, with several attempts, as it’s impossible to do justice as an amateur reviewer to the sheer magnificence of this novel. Adopting the form of an allegoric odyssey, Antonin Varenne has produced a sprawling, magisterial novel that defies comparison to anything I have read before…

Structured as three interlinking parts, and traversing more than 700 pages, I could feel the influence of a quest serving as a plot device in mythology and fiction, with a difficult journey towards a goal, in the character of Arthur Bowman who inhabits, and influences, each stage of the novel. As he journeys from his military service in Burma, then on to Victorian London, and finally to the swathes of unconquered territory of America in the grip of the gold rush, each section of the book is wonderfully visual, with Varenne depicting each landscape with pinpoint precision. In his use of location the ordinary is made extraordinary, and the reader’s sense of us being such a small inconsequential part of the natural world is continually brought to bear. Bowman is beautifully cast as both avenging angel and pioneer, weighted down by the brutal events in his personal history, and hence a man of changeable moods and impulses that wax and wane during the course of his mission to track down a killer.

The prose throughout is as tender and sensitive, as it is violent and vengeful, and our emotions and feelings are challenged and manipulated throughout, as Bowman navigates through both testing terrain, and human interaction. The book also poses some interesting theories on morality and immorality, particularly as a consequence of Bowman’s actions, and those of the man he so ardently and doggedly pursues, at intense personal cost. I don’t think it is any exaggeration to say that this is a true magnum opus, and held me utterly in its power along the long road to redemption and justice. It was just a completely wonderful emotional rollercoaster, suffused with historical detail, and a totally authentic evocation of place. It is a hugely complex and challenging novel, addressing themes of war, religion, revenge, human connection and emotional strife. As ever, Sam Taylor provides a perfect translation, that subtly captures the nuances of Varenne’s intensity of emotion. I cannot praise Retribution Road enough, and would highly recommend it for fiction and crime fiction readers alike. C‘est vraiment magnifique!