One of the best of the current writers in this field

Surely the best historical detective in the business

The whole thing is splendid. It has everything: mystery, pace wit, fascinating scholarship ... she brings imperial Rome to life.

Goddard's signature twists and turns, his clever plotting and the rising tension make this a page-turner thriller

The twists, turns and triple crosses will have you hooked... a truly manipulative storyteller

A penetrating examination of cause and effect... the characters are well drawn, the action bloodthirsty and the end satisfying

Goddard is a master of the sly double and triple cross

A compulsive read ... ingenious and deftly-handled

It is certainly the best novel I've read so far this year, and should mark Zeh as one of Europe's brightest younger novelists

Interesting and original novel

Clever and gripping

Every chapter is taut, suspenseful, almost Hitchcock-esque. Zeh's style is fluent but also elegantly sparse... An absolute gem of a book.

From every angle - character study, philosophical discussion or straightforward plot - it shines with crystalline intensity, and so far as one can tell, nothing is lost in the translation. Complex and supremely elegant, this is a book to relish

This is a book and a half