Entertaining but not Historical
932661
I worked through Halliday's book on many long trans-pacific flights over the past few months; ironically I read the last chapter on the short flight from Bangkok to Vientiane last month. Even without the book in hand, that flight always brings back memories. Sitting in the comfort of Thai hospitality, enjoying a glass of campaign; what a contrast to my flights over the Mekong nearly 40 years ago. Anyway, I found the book entertaining and many of Halliday's anecdotes brought back humorous and amusing memories. However, his constant harping and bitching about the Air Force and the war made it difficult to hold my attention to the book. He has certainly done a good job of embellishing what were normally routine missions in a surprisingly routine war. I think his book will play well with Vietnam War critics, and those who have been influenced with the many Hollywood film fantasies about the war. Entertaining fiction, sprinkled with a few facts, would be a good description of this book. I just hope it does not add to the predominant misconceptions that have characterized most publications and films about the war in Lao. I think a more balanced account of the candlestick missions, and other missions, would have been a more fitting tribute to those who served in Lao with courage and distinction. I am proud to have been one of them and it's disappointing to see that service trivialized by fiction being portrayed as history.
4470822
Very entertaining in a historical sense. Worth taking the time to read.
481856
This book could be classified as historical fiction, but the emphasis should be on "fiction".  The setting is England during the 15th Century, centering on the nobility and royals.  However, any character with a name belonging to a real person is two-dimensional and the author has them doing and reacting to events in ways not even remotely related to reality. Fictional characters are better developed and the author seems to devote his energy to battles.  In short, if you want a fictional romp, similar to the television series, "The Tudors", you may get some pleasure from reading this.  But don't take it seriously.  I couldn't.
4861188
Not a fan of mysteries, but enjoyed the historical part.
4942209
Not actually a true story and lots of geographic, historic, and other factual errors and inconsistencies. But interesting tale and entertaining.
2707305
First Sentence:  It is a truth universally acknowledged that a Fallen Woman of good family must, soon or late, descend to whoredom.

Sarah Tolerance is a disowned daughter of nobility who now lives in a cottage behind a high-class brothel and who acts as a private inquiry agent.  She is hired by Count Verseillon to locate and retrieve an antique fan he's given to a lady when he was younger.  What should be a relatively simple undertaking becomes less so when Sarah is attacked and others die.

For a purely fictional story, this was enjoyable.  However, as historical fiction, this is definitely not the book for the historical purist and I was disappointed.  The author plays fast and loose with historical facts and social details.  Although she acknowledges it, I still found it disruptive.

The story, itself, was quite enjoyable and well plotted.  It was a good mystery and there were things I did enjoy about it.  There was one incident toward the end I felt was handled in an unlikely way and the romance felt superfluous.

I probably will read another, but more because I already have it rather than because I would now intentionally seek it out and there are other authors I would recommend instead.
3797717
When her violinist father is murdered, 15-year-old Theresa Maria is caught up in the politics of 18th century Vienna.  Her adventures include encounters with various people, from royalty to gypsies to musicians, especially Franz Joseph Haydn.  What follows is an interesting story told through her eyes, albeit with a 21st century sensibility.  While the many of the details are rich and overall correct, the characters, especially Theresa Maria, aren't necessarily accurate to the time period.  Not a complaint, but an observation all the same.  Historical accuracy tends to be sketchy in character development to suit modern tastes.  Consequently, Theresa Maria is a spunky, independent teen starring in an entertaining mystery that will probably whet some appetites for more information about the time period, especially the music.  For anyone looking for a well-written but entertaining escape into historical fiction, music and historical figures included, this is an excellent choice.
4220062
An easy read and put it down as an entertaining romance. It was interesting in light of the information about the times. I wouldn't recommend it though.
2713067
In channeling Hildegarde von Bingen, who lived in the darkest of the dark ages, Mary Sharratt does a creditable, but not altogether convincing job.  Her sensibility as a modern woman shows through in various places.  Yet it is an entertaining book even if it doesn't tell us that much of what the subject's life was probably like.
147550
I found this book to be entertaining but far from factual about the Ohio Amish. I have read other books by this author and find them light and entertaining. There are some good points in this book. I recommend it strictly for light entertainment
2077174
The title of the book is a misnomer as the main character in the book is a slave elephant trainer (Rufus) and his best friend, German gladiator-turned-emperor's bodyguard (Cupido).  Apparently the book's title was originally an "'The Emperor's Elephant" but it was changed during the publishing process.

Basically I believe the extent to which one enjoys this book will depend on personal taste and how much of a historical purist one is.  If one is looking for a book that is almost purely "historical"  ala Sharon Kay Penman, or is bothered when fictional protagonists play a seminal role in historical events, than this novel is probably not for you unless knowing all this you are still willing to try it.  If one is not a historical purist or is not bothered by those things despite being one, than this is a generally enjoyable book with lots of action, nice (but often graphic) descriptions, and some colorful scenes.
3283578
The story was entertaining enough. The characters were sort of stock, plot a little contrived. I realize this is fiction, but it is set in a real historical era. I am surprised that neither Ms. Deveraux or her editors paid the slightest attention to historical detail. For examples:  The heroine shoots a rifle at the hero.  Certainly muskets were available, but the first rifle was not introduced until the 1860's.  Loans of pounds were rather casually given to workers.  The British pound would have been valued at about $76.00 in today's money, not chump change in any era. Very distracting.
1012580
I bought the book because it was only 99 cents. I found it to be reasonably entertaining.  I'm not sure how historically correct it is, as it is set in Omaha, NE in 1875 and I am not an expert on this era by any means.  As I am a man, I am pretty sure I am not part of the target audience for this book, but I needed some cheap reading to add to my iPhone during a trip.  (I am an amateur writer and like to read the low priced novelettes and other like products available on Kindle) Ms. Nordin does a fine job developing multidimensional characters that I actually end up caring about by the time I am well into the book.  The concrete simplicity of the plot provides a nice place of escape for those of us who have overdosed on current events.  Some events and situations in the story are difficult to image when viewed in 2015, but I bought it for simple entertainment so this is not an issue.  I will read other books by this author as I encounter them.
142780
I found this movie entertaining. Entertained but not thrilled.
4386748
This book was an entertaining read.  The author did a good job of recreating the feel of a classical text. The premise behind the book is a faux historical account of a zombie attack during the classical Roman era.  The original text has been "restored" and presented to the public in the form of a scholarly paper complete with scholarly footnotes.  The presentation is what makes this story stand out from other zombie horror books.  You really will get the impression you are reading a long lost piece of history.  Unfortunately, the book is too short.  I read this in under two hours.  A lot of details were never fleshed out and at times the author forgot that the reader may not share his frame of reference in terms of the "historical" facts.  So there are these wholes in the story that can be annoying.
3163758
A Roman army general is found murdered on the beach at a Roman pleasure resort area.  Marcus Flavius Severus, Judge in the Court of the Urban Prefect in the City of Rome is on vacation in the area with his family. He is assigned to investigate the murder.  Other murders start to take place reminiscent of events from Homer's Odyssey. Are the murders connected or the result of some lunatic?

The characters are interesting and there is much  detail of life in ancient Rome and the vacation localities.  There does appear to be too much modern lexicon used.  One gets the feeling that this is just a modern spy novel that has had the times and location changed from Ancient Rome to today's world.  Such things as "the imperial secret service", safety deposit boxes and court orders, to name a few, seem to ring false for a historical novel.  The investigative work also seems to consist of more modern police methods, involving paper chases, going to various archives and searching through countless scrolls and documents.  There is not the strong arm stuff that one would associate with ancient times and, indeed, not so ancient times. That all takes away from the usual historical novel aspect but it is still an interesting and enjoyable novel.
1537667
I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads Firstreads.

I give the three stars because while it is well-written, it was just not my kind of fiction.  This was my first Detective Sandilands mystery.  I think lovers of the series and/or fans of political-intrigue-type mystery will find it more enjoyable.  Although this is technically historical fiction (it's set during the Roosevelt administration), it did not hold my attention like most historical fiction - I typically read Victorian London fiction, or 1920s fiction.  I did not feel that I got a good sense of time era from the details, other than the cars people were driving, and the lack of technology.  And, again, it may be that it just isn't my brand of fiction.  I think most of the time period details were in the politics and the discussion of political events and leaders.  I'm not really into political plots.

I was hoping that the dowsers from the beginning of the book would play a larger role in the unraveling of the mystery, and that maybe there would be more of a love interest type thing going on between Ms. Hermione and Mr. Sandilands.  The imagery and wit and energy of the first chapter just seemed to dissipate as the book went on.  I loved the imagery of the first lines, but by chapter three I kept having to remind myself what time period I was in.

The plot seemed a bit jumpy.  It's like the plot made leaps that the reader was not led up to.  I found myself flipping pages back and rereading to see if I missed how we arrived at certain conclusions and points.  Also, the book is set in Britain, and I think a lot of that was lost on me.  Sometimes I had a hard time telling when the characters were being sarcastic... maybe just me not getting British humor.

I will give credit for good writing on the action scenes though - I thoroughly enjoyed the escapade at Sandiland's family home.  The last third of the book was quite enjoyable as far as pace and action.  The ending was not wholly satisfying though.  The murder I thought the book was primarily centered around just kind of faded out and the grand conspiracy that is revealed seems to come out of nowhere, and leaves you hanging, kind of like, "Well we tried, but this is just bigger than all of us..."