The Black Hand: A Barker & Llewelyn Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Will Thomas
Publisher: Touchstone
Category: Book
List Price: $14.00
Buy New: $8.32
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Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 6664
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 1416558950
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781416558958
ASIN: 1416558950
Publication Date: July 1, 2008
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Shipping: International shipping available
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Product Description
When an Italian assassin's body is found floating in a barrel in Victorian London's East End, enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn are called in to investigate. Soon corpses begin to appear all over London, each accompanied by a Maf ia Black Hand note. As Barker and Llewelyn dig deeper, they become entangled in the vendettas of rival Italian syndicates -- and it is no longer clear who is a friend or foe.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 I just LOVE this series August 18, 2008
I couldn't wait for #5 to come out & it's as enjoyable as the rest. If you read the quote from Laurell K. Hamilton regarding this series, I simply couldn't agree more. My only fault is why can't Mr Thomas start writing 2 of these each year?
Will Thomas' fifth offering "The Black Hand" August 13, 2008
Will Thomas' detective series works its way through the 1880's in Victorian London, and each installment is a great treat. Characters are introduced, then revealed at deeper and deeper levels as the stories go forward, others are added, some may be allowed a leave of absence from a volume only to return with smashing effect. Though some of them can barely stand each other, they amount to a durable family-like ensemble, held together only by the rock-hard force of mysterious Cyrus Barker.
"The Black Hand," like its predecessors, presents a mystery of violent crime against the backdrop of ethnic and social struggle in a way that is both faithful to history but fair-handed in its treatment. With the tender sensibilities (egos!) of the Home Office, Scotland Yard, and the River Police to balance, Inquiry Agent Cyrus Barker is the only logical weapon to deploy.
Perhaps the single most enjoyable aspect of reading Will Thomas is to immerse yourself in the writings of an authentic Victorian (who happens to live in 21st century Oklahoma!). The historical detail, the turns of phrase, and most of all the atmosphere you will find in these tales is by all means authentic Victorian.
 Barker and Llewelyn are back - one of my favorite duos August 8, 2008
First Sentence: I stepped across the sill of the conservatory, glass crunching under the heels of my boots, and steadied my Webley pistol with both hands, reluctant to step inside.
Enquiry agent Cyrus Barker and his assistant Thomas Llewelyn are called to the docks. The bodies of an Italian assassin and his wife have been found in a barrel floating in the Thames.
Baker's French chef is attacked and left with a threatening note signed with the imprint of a black hand. It appears the Mafia are attempting to move into London.
Thomas' book is wonderful. It is clever, smart and filled with plenty of suspense, intrigue and action balanced with humor.
After the prologue, the story was a bit slow in building momentum, but very good once it did. The sense of time and place is excellent as is his inclusion of historical information.
I particularly enjoyed that we learn a bit more about the pasts of the characters in a way that moves the series forward.
This is a delightful series and one I hope to see continue.
There's much to like here August 4, 2008
The Black Hand is the fifth in Will Thomas's series of Barker & Llewelyn novels, Victorian-era mysteries with more than a passing resemblance to Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. Cyrus Barker is the Sherlock figure, an enigmatic character with extraordinary training in, for example, numerous self defense techniques. Barker has his own band of "Irregulars" available to help him on cases, a network of acquaintances and allies across London, some of them less than savory types. Thomas Llewelyn is the Watson to Barker's Holmes, the character in whose voice the story is recounted. Llewelyn is twenty-something, a widower and one-time classical scholar who also served time for theft prior to his employment with Barker. He is being trained as Barker's assistant. In this outing, for example, he is sent to a Sicilian mafioso to learn how to defend himself with a dagger.
In The Black Hand Barker and Llewelyn run up against organized crime: the Mafia is attempting to establish a foothold in London, hoping to spread its influence among the Sicilian dockworkers. To combat the mob, which threatens to change the face of crime in London for good, Barker needs to patch together an alliance among London's disparate, sometimes mutually hostile groups--the Italians and Irish, with some English and French thugs thrown in.
While Barker and Llewelyn are intent in Thomas's novel on uncovering the identity of the mob boss who's sent assassins after them, The Black Hand isn't really about the mystery: what's appealing about the book is its characters and atmosphere--the cobblestoned London streets, Llewelyn's interactions with the other members of his master's entourage, and a preternaturally adept sleuth intent on combatting the city's criminal element. Readers looking to fall into a world made familiar by Conan Doyle will find much to like here.
-- Debra Hamel
Five for Five July 27, 2008
Five for Five refers not to this book alone but to the entire series. Will Thomas has created a series of extremely entertaining plots jam-packed with characters you quickly learn to care a great deal about.
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