A highly enjoyable historical fiction book set in ancient Rome with the Carthaginian wars as the back drop. It's a bit of a slow burn build up to a fantastic climactic battle scene.

For everyone who enjoying story about war and Roman historical story, this book is a amazing addition for your collection. The pace suit me well and the character have enough depth and unique voice. I am enjoy every moment I spent to read this book.
I need time to grapple the storyline because this is not first book and I not yet found the previous installment in my country. But it is take time but worth.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher to provide me with this amazing book.

An interesting book on Roman wars against Carthaginian forces. Revenge and treachery with brutality and savagery in wars against them.

Offered the choice of any other book over Roman historical fiction, even Viking historical fiction, I will always go Roman. It doesn’t matter who the author is, I will devour any book on Rome. From the synopsis Treachery, I was going to be in a treat to be accepted to read an arc from the publisher and NetGalley.

So reluctantly, I’m sad to say, for me, that’s were my excitement ended. I really wanted to like the book, but personally I couldn’t get into the story. The opening scenes didn’t capture the attention it highlighted a simmering jealousy of Gracchus against the Falto brothers, but apart from the first interaction with these characters, there is no more mention of them or the bitter rivalry between the brothers or Gracchus. You don’t find Gracchus mentioned until the end of the book, when his unscrupulous actions destroy the tenuous alliance. It felt like the author is holding back on this until the next book in the series follows.

I also found it a bit confusing when the main characters, Barca and Atticus are also referred to as Hamilcar and Perennis respectively. It may have been more apparent to those who’ve read the first two books in the series who they were, but for my first interaction with the characters, I had to keep flicking back a page or two to realise that they were one and the same. I believe not reading the previous books added to me being unable to resonate with the characters. I hope it is just me, and the pain meds, for the author and any loyal readers of the series.

All that said, its not that I didn’t find any good points. I liked how the tempo built up through the book to the climatic ending. I found myself reading each page faster and faster to see how it would end. Stacks also shied away for the gratuitous violence and the bestial side of man in the sacking of Tunis, which unfortunately many authors rely on to appeal to a bloodthirsty audience. He allows the horrors to be played out in your own imagination, not on the written page.

Please don’t think that I’m not willing to go back to read the previous books or the next ones or that I’m being over critical of the author’s work. I’m just sharing my view on this book alone, from the standpoint of the initial introduction to the characters and the author’s series. Feel free to prove me wrong, or tell me where I’ve gone wrong. You can do so through my blog page, The Word Whisperer Online.

VERDICT: 3***/5 Slow start builds in tempo to the climatic battle. As part of series, you do need to read the previous books for the characters to resonate with you. But, another addition to add to the library of any die hard Roman historical history fan.

Reading through this novel - my first thoughts were it’s a fun easy read. Popping into different perspectives of the main characters and progressing through fast pace battles in a very turbulent period of time in the Roman-Carthaginian timeline. I can only give this a 3 star as this was in many ways a bit clunky in the transitions between perspectives and honestly felt too rushed (likely too short of a novel for what is being attempted)

The author did do a good job of maintaining a believeable historicity which helps the overall quality. If this is the initial novel with more to come I would give the next one a chance