Unicorn's Blood

This is the first book by Finney I've read, but she really is an excellent writer. Her prose is just beautiful. Her characters are complicated and intriguing. She may be the John Le Carré of Elizabethan historical novelists, but this daring Tudor spy novel also happens to be narrated by the Virgin Mary herself (that takes guts) and depends on the actions of a former nun who was disenfranchised during the Great Schism and is now an ex-prostitute, old, haggard, drinking her life away and a cleaning woman at the royal um, outhouses, who just wants to aquire a dowry for her great-granddaughter. Between the outhouses and various prisons Unicorn's blood has a bleak feel, but there is much adventure combined with holiness, and Queen Elizabeth's moments are priceless.

I highly recommend this book. This is a literate and intelligent thriller with wonderfully researched and vivid historical details. The characters are interesting and engaging and play their parts in the complicated plot with aplomb. The protrayal of Elizabeth I's character and situation is superb. I found this book very hard to put down and eagerly await another installment from Ms. Finney.

A vividly painted depiction of life in Queen Elizabeth's court, with a wonderful portrayal of the queen herself. The author managed to portray her with the extraordinary personality that even to this day she is known to have had. At the same time, the plot was suspenseful and provided an interesting twist with characters from "The Firedrake's Eye."

Not being an English history buff, I was skeptical when I decided to purchase this book. Am I glad that I did! The character development, partiularly The Queen, was fabulous, the pace quick and full of suprises at every juncture. Not since I have read Corelli's Mandolin have I wanted to keep reading all night long. A great and fun book for a book group as well. What makes this book stand out was it's brilliant and ironic ending which is a difficult test to pass for any author .

The Elizabethans loved to plot and intrigue, and Patricia Finney sends a most unusual cast of characters after a very unusual quarry-a small velvet book with a unicorn embroidered on the cover in which the young Princess Elizabeth wrote of how she could not possibly now be the Virgin Queen. Persecuted Catholics, Protestant courtiers wanting to control the now mature, cranky and very savvy Queen, enemies of Mary, Queen of Scots, a defrocked nun and a midget acrobat are some of those whose causes need that diary. Finney (Firedrake's Eye) weaves a tight, complex plot that is skillfully revealed through surprising and marvellously developed characters. Readers beware: no one and nothing is safe in Unicorn's Blood, and Finney's willingness to risk characters we have become very fond of makes this the kind of book you either stay home from work to read or lose several nights' sleep over.