Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (Lord John Grey, #2)

by Diana Gabaldon

________________________________
The first book in Diana Gabaldon's LORD JOHN GREY series, set in the same world as her OUTLANDER novels

It's 1758 and Europe is in turmoil - the Seven Years War is taking hold and London is ripe with deceit. The enigmatic Lord John Grey, a nobleman and high-ranking officer in His Majesty's Army, pursues a clandestine love affair and a deadly family secret.

Grey's father, the Duke of Pardloe, shot himself just days before he was to be accused of being a Jacobite traitor. Now, seventeen years on, the family name has been redeemed; but an impending marriage revives the scandal. Lord John knows that as Whitehall whispers, rumours all too often lead their victims to the wails of Newgate prison - and to the gallows.

From barracks and parade-grounds to the bloody battlefields of Prussia, Grey faces danger and forbidden passions in his search for the truth. But it is in the stony fells of the Lake District that he finds the man who may hold the key to his quest: the enigmatic Jacobite prisoner Jamie Fraser.

Eighteenth-century Europe is brought startlingly to life in this compelling adventure mystery.

• ISBN10: 1446494195
• ISBN13: 9781446494196
• Publish Date: 31 August 2011 (first published 1 January 2007)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Cornerstone
• Imprint: Cornerstone Digital
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 640
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

3.5 stars
Lord John Grey is still no Jamie Fraser, but it is interesting to read more of this world, and of the way things worked in the 1850's.

[ibeforem]

I really enjoyed this second book in the Lord John Grey trilogy. I felt it was much more fleshed out than the first book, Lord John and the Private Matter. There is much joy and much pain in Lord John’s life during this book, and my only complaint is that the main mystery of the book — who killed Lord John’s father — often gets lost between his relationship with new step-brother Percy (and its consequences) and his involvement in the war. There were long stretches of the book where I completely forgot what the main point was. Lord John is himself an interesting character, noble and flawed both. I enjoyed his interactions with Jamie Fraser (which helped me place this book in the Outlander timeline), as well as his affair with Percy, even if that did end poorly. Not only does Gabaldon manage to tell quite an interesting tale, but she also explores what it’s like to live as a homosexual man in Georgian-era England, where such behavior is often punishable by death. As with the last book, if you are squeamish about homosexual relations, this trilogy is not for you!