Andrei Baltakmens

I will be the first to admit that my knowledge of the history of Australia is limited. I was aware that Britain shipped her convicts out to either work as indentured servants or to prisons so as to relieve overcrowding. A Hangman for Ghosts tells of some of those who were subjected to this treatment, one of them being the titular hangman.

Gabriel Carver worked as a hangman for the Sydney Prison. He volunteered for the job and took it very seriously – and he did it well. One day he was passing through the prison with the doctor when they heard tell of a woman who would not stop yelling that she knew the hangman and she wanted to see him. She claimed she was innocent of the murder of which she was charged and he had better do something for she knew things of him and would tell should he not help her.

He does go out to look into the murder. Of an ex-convict who managed to break those bonds and do well for himself. Become a landowner and start making some money. But now he was dead. But by who’s hand?

This was a book that you really had to pay attention to or you missed a tiny tidbit that was going to be important further down the line. Bits and pieces are given out here and there and the story slowly builds as some people are not who they seem and others are exactly who they appear to be. As Gabriel goes out to try and solve the murder he finds himself involved in so much more. It leads him back to his beginnings.

I enjoyed this book as it was quite different from what I usually read. It is rather dark as you might expect given that the hero as it were, is an actual hangman. Even given that rather macabre occupation Gabriel is a rather likable fellow. He does have a quick turn of mind and you tend forget he murders people.

I can’t say I completely understood everything that went on. I think I need to give it a second reading. It might not have been the best book to read around the holidays with so much else going on. As I mentioned you do need to pay it close attention. I got to the end and I was still slightly confused on a couple of issues but I think that was my fault and not the book’s. Due to the busyness of this time of year I simply could not read the book with the kind of attention it deserved. I plan to keep this one to read it again.… (más)

Sydney, Austrailia in 1829 was not a friendly place. Gabriel Carver, however, has made his situation as best he can. A convict himself, Gabriel volunteered to be the hangman of Sydney prison and made a place for himself in the penal colony. He lives a peaceful enough life until a female convict, Meg Harper enters the prison and asks for him. The woman is a former acquaintance of Carver's and wants him to prove her innocence in killing her master in return for keeping a secret about his past. Carver sets out on a mission to find out who really killed Ned Staines. While on the trail of Ned's real killer, Carver is pulled into the mystery of the "Rat's Line" a way back home for felons that have been condemned to the island and the people who protect it.

A Hangman for Ghosts took me into the dangerous world of Sydney in the early 19th century. I had no idea of how the penal colonies worked, the danger, or that convicts were often released back into Australian society. This book did take me a while to get into. Carver was a difficult character for me to care for. It wasn't until I learned of his passage to Australia and the secret he was harboring that I felt more attached to him. It also became clear why Carver, a convict and hangman seemed to have such a knack for detective work and crime solving, often seeing things that the judges have missed when condemning people for a crime. The suspense intensified as Carver was led on a chase to the Rat's Line. As he delved deeper into this hidden passage home the danger swelled and Carver ability to navigate the Australian underbelly was tested ending with a very surprising suspect. Overall, an interesting look into life for a convict in Australia's penal colonies with an exciting mystery.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.… (más)

This book came from Netgalley for review (a long time ago – sorry about that) – thank you to NG and the publisher.

I seem to say this a lot lately: this was not what I expected. It’s a Dickensian, Dumas-esque, dark mystery with fantastic elements … I think that covers most of it. That The Count of Monte Cristo is in the book’s genealogy is without doubt.

It all begins with a tussle in a tavern, as Thaddeus Grainger defends the honor of a young working-class woman against someone who sees her as fair game. Thaddeus saves the girl, Cassie Redruth, and earns himself a duel with her aggressor, to her dismay. By the next evening, Thaddeus is nursing his wounds – but his rival is dead, and not from their duel. Thaddeus knows that, and his friends believe it, but the constabulary do not, and he is arrested, tried, convicted, and imprisoned – he never stood a chance.

And there’s where The Count of Monte Cristo comes in – except that the conspiracy behind the scenes of The Raven’s Seal is much bigger and more impersonal. They don’t care about Thaddeus, or Cassie, or even much about the murdered man. The latter had to be put out of the way, and Thaddeus was a convenient scapegoat. As a larger entity, this shadowy force is harder to discover, harder to get at, and harder to overcome – especially when the troops arrayed against it consist of a young housemaid, a man in prison, an impoverished writer, and an old man. Goliath, meet David.

The description on Goodreads for this specifically states that it is set in late 18th-century England – and that surprises me. I don’t know if I failed to pay attention at the right times, but I had this pegged as being set elsewhere entirely, a setting that looks and sounds and smells like but isn’t quite 17-something England. I think that’s my only real problem with the book, is that the setting – Bellstrom Gaol – is fictional, yet it was supposed to be England. I could have wished for either more of a footing in reality, or a complete disconnect from reality. It isn’t a fantasy, really, at all – but it feels like it ought to be. In fact, it feels a great deal like Ellen Kushner’s fantasies of manners – and that isn’t in any way a bad thing.… (más)