The Curse of Anne Boleyn

One of my high school teachers once opined that there was no future in writing historical novels because all the best ideas had already been taken. CC Humphreys has proven him wrong. He has lifted a nameless minor figure from one of the tragic tableaux of history -- the expert swordsman specially sent for from France to cut off the head of Queen Anne Boleyn -- and made him the hero of his first novel "The French Executioner". "Blood Ties" is the sequel, set twenty years later and focusing on the next generation. Perhaps not great literature, but certainly good entertainment: an original idea, well-researched and well-written.

This is a fast paced adventure novel based on a real historical person Jean Rombaud, whose claim to fame was the fact that he beheaded Anne Boleyn. The book begins in 1555, it is nineteen years since the execution of England's queen, yet the mark of her witchery, her six fingered hand, stolen at her death is being sought as a weapon to use against her daughter Elizabeth. Jean's son is now working for the inquisition in Rome and is summoned by Cardinal Carafa and ordered to find the hand of Anne Boleyn. From the savagery of Sienna the book transports you to the New World, untouched by Europe's Christian hatred and sectism. This is a delightful novel which blends historical fact with fantasy. One of the best I've read this year.