A new series in the making featuring another enigmatic Elizabethan playwright - to be added to the same shelf as MJ Trow's Kit Marlowe mysteries.

All the synopsis says about The Assassin of Verona is a thrilling and thoughtful historical adventure, featuring the most famous man in history as you've never seen him before, and while this is too I didn't connect well with the characters I read it mainly for the historical value.

Looking at Shakespeare from this angle was a totally different experience. These are considered a story on the "lost" years of which I knew nothing so I came to this story with an open mind.

My knowledge of Shakespeare is limited to what I learnt in school. We actually did quite a lot of it but some of it just does not register at the age of 14! it should be taught to over 40s actually as it will make sense then. Anyway history and plenty of it, fiction and a clever author blend into a story that is fascinating and enthralling.

Working as a spy for the Queen, uncovering a papal plot to assassinate the Queen it is upto Shakespeare and his cohorts to uncover the culprits and bring them to the Queen's attention before it is too late

The tale gets more complicated by romance, corrupt officials, ruthless clergymen and Shakespeare has to somehow find his way back to England.

I enjoyed the story of historical fiction peopled by very well known characters (with a twist of course)
Goodreads and Amazon review posted on 17/1/2018. linked to my fb account as well.

What an inventive, clever story! I really enjoyed this book and in particular the development of the charming and engaging Will. The book has everything I was looking for, historical details, adventure, sparkling dialogue and a dash of romance. I look forward to the authors next book!

This book was provided to me by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The novel is the second in a series about a young William Shakespeare in Venice. The story begins with Will and his two friends embarking on a bit of espionage, ultimately to thwart the Pope and his tenuous hold on Venice. It's well written and the characters and realistically drawn. The language is appropriately Elizabethan, without being incomprehensible.
The plot itself pays homage to many of Shakespeare's plays, most noticeably 'As You Like It', providing a more accurate historical context.
It's an interesting concept and storyline. I will now have to go back and read the first though, because I feel I may have missed some character nuances because I didn't have the back story.

An engaging and clever presentation of Shakespeare, although entirely fictional, this story lives up to expectations on the whole. Brandreth has a knack for telling a story and, the weaving of such, ensures the reader is fully immersed in the setting, characters and plot throughout. He makes use of Shakespearean quotations throughout, inventively inserting pieces of the man everywhere, so it becomes undeniably familiar and thereby comforting in its own way.
Having not read the first in the series, this narrative was completely new to me, but it was clear that it is not necessary to have first encountered the prologue in order to understand and engage with this one. Each one stands alone, following its own independent storyline and gaining its own credence.
In this narrative the reader encounters Shakespeare the spy, along with his fellow masters of espionage, Hemminges and Oldcastle, all past echelons of the stage, sharing adept skills in acting and politics, thereby presenting a threat to other nations. The action takes place wholly in Italy, most notably shared between Venice and Verona (or the outskirts mostly) and the characters are joined by a host of equally interesting individuals, both good and evil, in their quest to find out necessary information for their homeland and make it back to England in one piece.
The plot changes constantly, with twists and turns to keep the reader's interest and we are treated to a range of possibilities as we hurtle towards the end. Shakespeare, himself, does not especially shine in this role - in fact, he is morose and somewhat of a drag for a huge part of the novel, but there are many engaging moments within the story to keep everyone entertained.
There are some lovely descriptions and nice touches of narrative technique that make this a worthwhile and appealing read for those who like a different perspective and suspension of belief for light relief.

I love Shakespeare as much as the next person. I studied it through high school, sixth form and university, which gave me a decent passing knowledge of most of his plays and means I a couple of quotes memorised that are unlikely to come in useful for the rest of my life.

Still. There’s one thing Shakespeare can do well and it’s write a ripping yarn, and that same passion for storytelling shines through in The Assassin of Verona.

If there’s one thing that shines through in Brandreth’s writing, it’s his passionate love of Shakespeare. Following on from his first novel in the William Shakespeare Thriller series, The Spy of Venice, the story charts the adventures of Will, and his friends Oldcastle and Hemminges as they navigate the rocky politics of sixteenth-century Italy- in particular, the new Pope and his spies.

And while in theory that makes for a great story, Brandreth’s dedication to the Bard makes for some teething problems that disrupt an otherwise-exciting story. The story itself is thrilling, and the first half could happily pass as a medieval Bourne: with chases through the canals of Venice, the slowly unfolding plot, the suspense and danger that comes from the new Pope, intent on bringing Protestant England back to the Catholic church…it has the potential to be a great novel.

Then it takes an odd left turn into the realms of Shakespearean drama. Oldcastle, Hemminges and Will take a back seat in favour of a plot concerning Aemelia, a strong-willed girl who wants to marry her lover Valentine in spite of her father’s will. And there are outlaws. And an evil priest. Brandreth deftly handles the plot, and laces the story with intrigue, suspense and some machinating characters, but the change of tone is a little bit jarring. It doesn’t help that he liberally sprinkles his words with phrases taken from the plays and sonnets: it feels, sometimes, that the novel is merely a vehicle for Shakespeare’s own ideas and words, which cramps the style and takes away from the book being a piece of work in its own right. Shakespeare’s all well and good, but having the confidence to own and develop your own ideas is better.

The other problem lies with the characters. I loved the stalwart Hemminges and Falstaffian Oldcastle- even the headstrong Aemilia- but Will remained an enigma. The Assassin of Verona has very few links to the previous novel- and I haven’t read it, so I can’t claim I’m an expert here- but Will has very little character development and is actually mad for half the novel, before. That was confusing, and hard to swallow: very little effort was put into fleshing out his character here, and meant that the author could easily have substituted Shakespeare for another character and the story wouldn’t have turned out that differently.

Despite that, though, the story remains gripping, interesting and heaven for people who like their Shakespeare with a bit of flair. Brandreth can definitely tell a story, and the ending is ultimately satisfying, but I found it just that little bit too frustrating to properly appreciate- which is a shame because there’s a lot of good there too. Here’s hoping his next will be even better!

1585 and English spies William Shakespeare, Oldcastle and Hemminges are in Venice. While Oldcastle and Hemminges want to return to England, Shakespeare wishes to stay with his lover Isabella Lisarro. This is only the beginning of their problems.
Unfortunately this book might read better if The Spy in Venice had been read but I haven't read the first in the series. But I didn't like the writing style, and became annoyed with the quotes of Shakespeare's plays starting or ending the short chapters. I also didn't care much for any of the characters.

From the canals of Venice to the forests of the Veneto, Benet Brandreth has written a tale of love, conspiracy and treachery that will please any lover of Shakespeare or historical fiction.

William Shakespeare and his companions, Oldcastle and Hemminges, have discovered the identities of the Pope's spies in England and must now leave before they are found by the Pope's agents. Leaving Shakespeare behind with his lover who has fallen ill, his companions set off for England. Attacked by bandits in the woods, they take refuge at the estate of a duke. When Will finally follows his friends he is waylaid by the bandits and accepted into their group. There he takes on the role of commentator and manipulator.

While this is the story of Will and his companions, it is also the story of Aemeliaand her love for Valentine, a love forbidden by her father, the Duke. It is also the story of Father Thornhill, who uses torture and deception as he hunts for Will and his friends. Finally there is Orlando, once a nobleman, who leads the bandits as he plots revenge against his brother for the murder of their father.

There are disguises, sword fights and entertaining dialogue to entertain the reader. This is Brandreth's second novel in the series, following The Spy of Venice. Hopefully there are more adventures to come as the companions make their way back to England.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing this book for an unbiased review.

He's followed The Spy of Venice with another excellent novel!
Love how he lays out the story as if it were a play - very inventive.
Great characters, plot and narrative.
Really looking forward to more!

How much you'll like (or dislike) "The Assassin of Verona" depends on your tolerance for 1) short, choppy chapters with titles that come from quotes from Shakespearean works even when those quotes relate only very tangentially to the contents of the chapter; 2) characters using turns of phrase that, we're led to believe, the fictional Shakespeare would subsequently incorporate into his works; 3) a main character who spends the vast majority of the book moping and wallowing in self-pity. My tolerance for all three is very low. Reading this was a slog—the pacing was slow—but the writing was intriguing in parts, and I did like the delineations of several of the secondary characters.

What I commend about this book:
The characters, and there are many, are well fleshed out and colorful;
The Language is true to the time but understandable and beautifully written;
The various settings and especially the politics of those settings are true and engaging.

The action commences in Venice and Verona in the late fall of 1585. The story spans only a few months but much happens in the time frame. The story revolves around three Englishmen who have vital information that must be conveyed to England and Queen Elizabeth. All the more interesting that one of these Englishmen is William Shakespeare.

There is a new Pope, Sixtus V, who has employed spies to infiltrate England in the attempt to topple the Heretic Queen. He has also commissioned soldiers, and a certain English Priest to find and unmask the three Englishmen before they can deliver their information. The Pope has charged his Priest “to root out heresy” in the areas north of Rome all the while fomenting the fighting between France and Spain. Add into the mix the Duke of Verona who is being challenged not only by the Pope’s English Priest, but by his daughter for being denied her one true love. And around and around we go as more and more players are introduced as others fall by the wayside.

The twists and turns were well done and the ending, well, is it an ending?

Thank you NetGalley and Bonnie Zaffre for an ARC.

I gave the same rating to the first book in the series, but for different reasons to this sequel. I enjoyed the story more in this one but it had almost nothing to do with William Shakespeare this time. And the appearances he did make were annoying. He was not a likeable character in this one. The plot itself started quite light in humour but turned darker towards the end. I really liked Amelia and Hemminges.
I am no expert on Shakespeare although I've read a few of his plays. I don't know them well enough to identify the plays that some of this story line come from. I liked this element as it's a plausible way for Shakespeare to have turned from glover to playwright in just a few years- turning his supposed adventures into plays in the future. While my Shakespeare knowledge is nothing more a than scanty, it did seem to me that there was far more dropping of famous lines into this novel. In fact it seemed a little overladen!
So. I enjoyed this book despite having William Shakespeare in it, which is slightly odd, as the series is meant to be based on him!
Many thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.