When I have a writing deadline approaching, you'll probably find me in the kitchen. It's horrible, I know, but when I work with a deadline, I tend...
Continue »
From the acclaimed author of The Whiskey Rebels and A Conspiracy of Paper comes a superb new historical thriller set in the splendor and squalor of eighteenth-century London. In Benjamin Weaver, David Liss has created one of fiction's most enthralling characters.
The year is 1722. Ruffian for hire, ex-boxer, and master of disguise, Weaver finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, pitted against Jerome Cobb, a wealthy and mysterious schemer who needs Weaver's strength and guile for his own treacherous plans.
Weaver is blackmailed into stealing documents from England's most heavily guarded estate, the headquarters of the ruthless British East India Company, but the theft of corporate secrets is only the first move in a daring conspiracy within the eighteenth century's most powerful corporation. To save his friends and family from Cobb's reach, Weaver must infiltrate the Company, navigate its warring factions, and uncover a secret plot of corporate rivals, foreign spies, and government operatives. With millions of pounds and the security of the nation at stake, Weaver will find himself in a labyrinth of hidden agendas, daring enemies, and unexpected allies.
With the explosive action and scrupulous period research that are David Liss's trademarks, The Devil's Company, depicting the birth of the modern corporation, is the most impressive achievement yet from an author who continues to set ever higher standards for historical suspense.
Review:
"In Edgar-winner Liss's enjoyable third thriller to feature the estimable Benjamin Weaver, an 18th-century London 'thieftaker' (after A Spectacle of Corruption and A Conspiracy of Paper), Weaver finds himself working reluctantly for a mysterious gentleman, Jerome Cobb. On Cobb's orders, Weaver takes employment as a security man at the British East India Company's headquarters, where he tries to obtain information about the death of one Absalom Pepper, of whom virtually nothing is known. To keep Weaver in line, Cobb has blackmailed Weaver's friend Moses Franco, close confederate Elias Gordon and his beloved uncle Miguel. As usual, several beautiful women play roles in the complicated plot, which involves industrial spying and the international textile trade. Weaver's two previous adventures could sometimes bog down in arcane financial and political detail, but Liss keeps the suspense at full boil and the action rolling swiftly ahead. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Review:
"The Devil's Company," a treat for lovers of historical fiction, sees the return of Benjamin Weaver in his third exciting romp through the varied and sometimes surreal landscape of 18th-century London. Weaver is an endearing protagonist, a former pugilist and investigator for hire whom we first met in David Liss' "A Conspiracy of Paper" (1999). His underlying humanity saves him from the macho posturing... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) that ultimately undermines the moral authority of most action-adventure heroes. And he is a Jew, which imbues him with the romance of an outsider and permits Liss to show us how anti-Semitism was expressed in the relatively unfamiliar context of Hanoverian England. The story begins simply enough, when Weaver is engaged by the enigmatic Jerome Cobb to be his agent in a card game to humiliate an old adversary. Although the game is rigged, things do not go as planned, and Weaver finds himself owing Cobb a large sum of money. Weaver is forced to work as Cobb's spy and break into the fortresslike headquarters of the British East India Company to steal documents. From this point, a plot of devilish complexity begins to unfold. Weaver is never properly informed of Cobb's ultimate purpose, and one of the pleasures of this book is a deepening sense of mystery combined with a growing awareness that the stakes are very high indeed. At the heart of events is the disappearance of a handsome but ingenious bigamist whose lost notebooks contain plans for a machine that — if constructed — will injure the joint interests of the East India Company and the British government. Along the way, the narrative keeps us fully engaged with phaeton and boat chases, explosions, seductions and a colorful visit to a brothel for homosexual cross-dressers. Liss' 18th-century London is one that James Bond would have felt at home in. The action is fast and full of surprises — so many, in fact, that the suspension of disbelief is sometimes sustained by only a thread. But the narrative momentum inclines us to be indulgent — and rightly so, because there is much to enjoy. These characters are particularly well drawn, with even the minor players given care and attention. Another virtue of "The Devil's Company" is its timely subtext, which explores the beginnings of corporate culture and globalization. Liss cleverly refers to the works of Charles Davenant and Josiah Child and their theory of free trade that "benefits all nations" — a phrase that is echoed in the debate still raging. You'll also recognize a number of other issues that are as relevant today as they were in the 18th century. Does the promise of sharing the proceeds of economic growth justify an interim period of social inequality? At what point does international trade become a form of mercantile conquest? And should governments have a relaxed attitude toward large corporations that increase the nation's prosperity? Liss demonstrates — with a light touch — that the political, economic and social problems we worry about now have a venerable provenance. Moreover, the solutions chosen by those in power — past and present — usually favor pragmatism over justice. "Politics," says one of Liss' characters, "cannot always be about what is moral and right and good for all men and for all time. It must be about what is expedient now, and what is the lesser evil." Historical fiction is mostly smoke and mirrors. Modern writers really don't know what it was like to live in the past — no matter how much research they do — so the success of the enterprise depends largely on creating a convincing illusion. In this respect, the novelist's principal tool is language, which must sound authentic but never drag or test the reader's patience. Liss rises to this challenge with great skill in this accomplished, atmospheric and thoughtful novel. Reviewed by Frank Tallis, who is the author of the Liebermann Papers, a series of psychoanalytic detective thrillers set in Freud's Vienna, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)
Review:
"[H]istorical details give The Devil's Company a richness that make it more than an enjoyable diversion, though, dear reader, it is foremost and most agreeably that." The Austin American Statesman
Review:
"Historical fiction is mostly smoke and mirrors. Modern writers really don't know what it was like to live in the past — no matter how much research they do — so the success of the enterprise depends largely on creating a convincing illusion....Liss rises to this challenge with great skill in this accomplished, atmospheric and thoughtful novel." The Washington Post
Review:
"Like Liss' other books, The Devil's Company...is thoroughly steeped in the pungent life, morals and politics of its time and place." The Seattle Times
David Liss is the author of The Whiskey Rebels, The Ethical Assassin, A Spectacle of Corruption, The Coffee Trader, and A Conspiracy of Paper, winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel. He lives in San Antonio with his wife and children.
Product details
384 pages
Random House -
English9781400064199
Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"In Edgar-winner Liss's enjoyable third thriller to feature the estimable Benjamin Weaver, an 18th-century London 'thieftaker' (after A Spectacle of Corruption and A Conspiracy of Paper), Weaver finds himself working reluctantly for a mysterious gentleman, Jerome Cobb. On Cobb's orders, Weaver takes employment as a security man at the British East India Company's headquarters, where he tries to obtain information about the death of one Absalom Pepper, of whom virtually nothing is known. To keep Weaver in line, Cobb has blackmailed Weaver's friend Moses Franco, close confederate Elias Gordon and his beloved uncle Miguel. As usual, several beautiful women play roles in the complicated plot, which involves industrial spying and the international textile trade. Weaver's two previous adventures could sometimes bog down in arcane financial and political detail, but Liss keeps the suspense at full boil and the action rolling swiftly ahead. (July)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
"Review"
by The Austin American Statesman,
"[H]istorical details give The Devil's Company a richness that make it more than an enjoyable diversion, though, dear reader, it is foremost and most agreeably that."
"Review"
by The Washington Post,
"Historical fiction is mostly smoke and mirrors. Modern writers really don't know what it was like to live in the past — no matter how much research they do — so the success of the enterprise depends largely on creating a convincing illusion....Liss rises to this challenge with great skill in this accomplished, atmospheric and thoughtful novel."
"Review"
by The Seattle Times,
"Like Liss' other books, The Devil's Company...is thoroughly steeped in the pungent life, morals and politics of its time and place."
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
Don't Miss
