Synopses & Reviews
In the first two books of his acclaimed Christopher Marlowe Cobb series,
The Hot Country and
The Star of Istanbul, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Olen Butler captured the hearts of historical crime fiction fans with the artfulness of his World War I settings and his charismatic leading man, a Chicago journalist recruited by American intelligence.
In The Empire of Night, it is 1915, and President Woodrow Wilson is still assessing the war's threat to the United States. After proving himself during the Lusitania mission, Kit is now a full-blown spy, working undercover in a castle on the Kentish coast owned by a suspected British government mole named Sir Albert Stockman. And Kit is again thrown together with a female spyhis own mother, the beautiful and mercurial Isabel Cobb, who also happens to be a world-famous stage actress. Starring in a touring production of Hamlet, Isabel's offstage role is to keep tabs on the supposed mole, an ardent fan of hers, while Kit tries to figure out Stockman's secret agenda. Following his mother and her escort from the relative safety of Britain into the lion's den of Berlin, Kit must remain in character, even under the very nose of the Kaiser.
Review
Deliciously captivating. . . . I can hardly wait for the next in the series.”—Arab Voice
Review
Exciting . . . the period details are spot on. . . . This tale of shifting allegiances and worldwide consequences enthralls.”—
Publishers WeeklyDeliciously captivating. . . . I can hardly wait for the next in the series.”Arab Voice
Review
[A] thrilling historical series. . . . Mr. Butler does a terrific job of depicting both the journalists facility for teasing information from his subjects and the spys incessant fear of being discovered. Theres something almost magical about the way the author re-creates this 1915 milieu.”
Wall Street JournalThe Empire of Night is a cracking good spy thriller, with a cast of memorable characters and a terrifically suspenseful plot that will have you casting the movie as you read. And Butlers elegant writing elevates the bookhe is a master of everything from lyrical description to believable dialogue.”Tampa Bay Times
The Empire of Night is a smart and layered yarn . . . propulsive reading . . . Butler has developed a knack for snapping off taut, Hammett-esque sentences at tense moments. . . . Butler is determined to show that genre fiction can be intellectually rich.”Star-Tribune (Minneapolis)
Butler combines fascinating historical detail about the pre-WWI period with genuine suspense and a tongue-in-cheek wit that gives the whole a uniquely tart flavor. The multilayered, adversarial relationship between Kit and Isabel grows more fascinating with each installment and will leave readers eager to learn more.”Booklist (starred review)
Exciting . . . the period details are spot on. . . . This tale of shifting allegiances and worldwide consequences enthralls.”Publishers Weekly
[An] elegant thriller. . . . A meticulously researched page-turner that will appeal to spy novel buffs and lovers of historical novels, as well as any general reader intrigued with the power struggles of World War I. If youve never read a novel by Butlerone of the great stylists writing todayyoure in for a treat with The Empire of Night.”Huntington News
Butler's continuous pressure on the suspense makes the novel a page-turning, nail-biting experience, and his use of short, crisp sentences magnifies the tension.”Readers Unbound
An engrossing thriller. Cobbs traversal of the German countryside is tension-laden, and the finale wrongfoots with unexpected twists. Well-acted, center-stage entertainment.”Crime Book Beat
Deliciously captivating. . . . I can hardly wait for the next in the series.”Arab Voice
Synopsis
In the first two books of his critically acclaimed Christopher Marlowe Cobb series,
The Hot Country and
The Star of Istanbul, Pulitzer Prize-winner Robert Olen Butler won the hearts of historical crime fiction fans with the artfulness of his World War I settings, his swashbuckling action, and his charismatic leading man, a Chicago journalist recruited by American intelligence. In the third installment,
The Empire of Night, Kit” is now a full-blown spy, and he has to go deep undercover to unravel a secret German plot for turning zeppelins into dangerous killing machines.
It is 1917, and the United States is still wavering on the brink of war. At an elite intelligence meeting at a Hyde Park mansion, Kits handlers pair him up with someone he would never have expected—his mother. Theres a German mole somewhere in the British government, and the most likely suspect happens to be a diehard fan of the famous American theater actress Isabel Cobb. Disguised as a German-American reporter named Joseph William Hunter, Kit follows his mother and her escort Sir Albert Stockman from the relative safety of London into the lions den of Berlin.
About the Author
Robert Olen Butler is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of over a dozen novels, including Hell, A Small Hotel, and two previous installments of the Christopher Marlowe Cobb series, The Hot Country and The Star of Istanbul. He is also the author of six short collections and a book on the creative process, From Where You Dream. He has twice won a National Magazine Award in Fiction and received the 2013 F. Scott Fitzgerald Award for Outstanding Achievement in American Literature. He teaches creative writing at Florida State University.