Publisher: KJC Books
232 pages
Blurb
Swordfights, lust, betrayal, murder: just
another day for a henchman.
Jasper Detchard is a disgraced British officer, now selling his blade to the highest bidder. Currently that's Michael Elphberg, half-brother to the King of Ruritania. Michael wants the throne for himself, and Jasper is one of the scoundrels he hires to help him take it. But when Michael makes his move, things don’t go entirely to plan—and the penalty for treason is death.
Rupert of Hentzau is Michael's newest addition to his sinister band of henchmen. Charming, lethal, and intolerably handsome, Rupert is out for his own ends—which seem to include getting Jasper into bed. But Jasper needs to work out what Rupert’s really up to amid a maelstrom of plots, swordfights, scheming, impersonation, desire, betrayal, and murder.
Nobody can be trusted. Everyone has a secret. And love is the worst mistake you can make.
A retelling of the swashbuckling classic The Prisoner of Zenda from a very different point of view.
Jasper Detchard is a disgraced British officer, now selling his blade to the highest bidder. Currently that's Michael Elphberg, half-brother to the King of Ruritania. Michael wants the throne for himself, and Jasper is one of the scoundrels he hires to help him take it. But when Michael makes his move, things don’t go entirely to plan—and the penalty for treason is death.
Rupert of Hentzau is Michael's newest addition to his sinister band of henchmen. Charming, lethal, and intolerably handsome, Rupert is out for his own ends—which seem to include getting Jasper into bed. But Jasper needs to work out what Rupert’s really up to amid a maelstrom of plots, swordfights, scheming, impersonation, desire, betrayal, and murder.
Nobody can be trusted. Everyone has a secret. And love is the worst mistake you can make.
A retelling of the swashbuckling classic The Prisoner of Zenda from a very different point of view.
Review
The Henchmen of Zenda was the most fun I had reading this year so far. This is a
delightful tale of dastardly Daring Do’s, of secrets and betrayal, adventure,
sexy times, and danger. And it’s all told by Jasper Detchard, who does his best
to come across as cynical and aloof but can’t quite hide the fact that beneath
the bluster hides a big heart.
I’ve never read The Prisoner of Zenda (although now I’ll
probably have to get the book), but I’m not sure that mattered. I had no
problem losing myself in this story, these characters, and this world. There
really isn’t a boring moment in this story and the surprises come hard and
fast. The villains are exceedingly (borderline over the top) bad and evil which
makes reading about their demise all the more fantastic. I wouldn’t necessarily
call their counterparts upstanding citizens. In fact, Jasper and his
sex-interest Rupert have quite a few villainy traits of their own, but both of
them happen to find themselves on the side of what’s right (or should that be
‘less wrong’) in this case and it’s impossible not to think that they’re
comfortable there.
Sharp conversations between the principle characters fixed a
smile on my face. The vivid descriptions of everything ranging from features,
landscapes, to sword fights, brought the story to light, and numerous twists
and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. This is the sort of adventure story
you should only start if you have a long stretch of reading time available.
Because once you start The Henchmen of Zenda it is next to
impossible to put the book down before you reach the final paragraph.
I neglected KJ Charles recently, and I have no idea why. It
is an oversight I intend to fix over the next few months. Of course, the
advantage of ‘forgetting’ about a great writer for a while is that there’s a
good selection of new to me titles just waiting for me to find them.
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