Review: Heresy, blasphemy and God save the Queen
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 29, 2012
This novel takes place in two time periods - one present day, and the other the time of Shakespeare and company, where uttering the wrong words could lead to public humiliation and missing body parts.  (Actually, this could apply to both time periods)The present-day leading character is a firm believer that Shakespeare was a poseur, who wasn't smart enough to write the works attributed to him, and a recent discovery may be the key to proving this theory.Switching between the sixteenth century and now, the author relates the story of Christopher Marlowe, who may have been Shakespeare's ghost writer, and ties this in with a letter, a painting and three leather-bound books just screaming to be decoded.Naturally, this theory doesn't go down well with the Shakespeare fans, and the plot evolves into a good old action/adventure thriller as the various characters play "hot potato" with the evidence, and members of the mysterious secret society of the pelican and chicks keep popping up.Ultimately, the author serves up the evidence in the first half, provides the action in the second, and leaves it to the reader to decide who's left with the hot potato.Amanda Richards, May 29, 2012