Synopses & Reviews
Arturo Pérez-Reverte is one of the most beloved writers in the world. His bestselling novels, including
The Club Dumas and
The Queen of the South, have been published in fifty countries and translated into twenty-eight languages. Now, with The Adventures of Captain Alatriste, he delivers a magnificent series, already a million-copy bestseller in Spain, that chronicles the heroic adventures of a seventeenth-century swordsman.
In Purity of Blood, the second novel in the series, the courageous Alatriste is considering rejoining his old regiment to fight in Breda but his blade leads him to another adventure. A desperate father hires him to rescue his daughter from a convent where a powerful priest is said to be using the girl as his personal concubine. The father has been prevented from legal recourse because the priest has threatened to reveal that the man's family is "not of pure blood" is, in fact, of Jewish descent which will all but destroy the family name. Alatriste agrees to help, and several nights later, under the cloak of darkness, a rescue attempt is made.
But soon Alatriste discovers that he has become part of a religious and political conspiracy that leads all the way to the highest levels of the Inquisition. When a date is set to burn the man's daughter at the stake, Captain Alatriste springs into action sword first setting off a series of twists and turns that will keep readers riveted to the page.
Review
"Filled with fabulous historical detail....Purity of Blood is absolutely riveting from beginning to end. (Grade: A)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"[A] completely absorbing novel that, like the first one in the series, absolutely defines swashbuckling....This novel is written in the mold of Dumas' musketeer novels and excitingly upholds the tradition." Booklist
Review
"Though thrilling in places, the Alatriste stories are not meant to be raced through....Pérez-Reverte has obligingly already written the next three books, so all we have to do is persuade Putnam to release them as quickly as possible." Detroit Free Press
Review
"As Alatriste battles Italian arch-nemesis Gualterio Malatesta, Pérez-Reverte provides characteristically stirring play-by-play." Christian Science Monitor
Review
"On the whole, once it extricates itself from a backlog of long names and previous plot developments, Purity of Blood hits the high note of Captain Alatriste and sustains the series' uncommon verve." Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Review
"It's great fun in the tradition of historical swashbucklers such as Three Musketeers or The Scarlet Pimpernel, and yet it's not all sword fights and breakneck horseback rides." Boston Globe
Review
"Though thrilling in places, the Alatriste stories are not meant to be raced through....Pérez-Reverte has obligingly already written the next three books, so all we have to do is persuade Putnam to release them as quickly as possible." Detroit Free Press
Review
"Pérez-Reverte is a master at evoking the particular color of the times, with brothels, taverns, torero arenas and dark alleyways as essential props." Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
The second swashbuckling adventure in the internationally acclaimed Captain Alatriste series Captain Alatriste, Madrids most charismatic swashbuckler, returns in Perez-Revertes acclaimed international bestseller. The fearless Alatriste is hired to infiltrate a convent and rescue a young girl forced to serve as a powerful priests concubine. The girls father is barred from legal recourse as the priest threatens to reveal that the mans family is not of pure blood and is, in fact, of Jewish descentwhich will all but destroy the family name. As Alatriste struggles to save the young hostage from being burned at the stake, he soon finds himself drawn deeper and deeper into a conspiracy that leads all the way to the heart of the Spanish Inquisition. A literary thriller that delivers adventure and rich historical detail, Purity of Blood captivates to the final page.
About the Author
Arturo Perez-Reverte lives near Madrid. Originally a war correspondent, he now writes fiction full-time. His novels include The Flanders Panel, The Club Dumas, The Fencing Master, The Seville Communion, The Nautical Chart, and The Queen of the South. In 2002, he was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy.