Macho, sexy, profoundly bloody and a wonderful adventure story

Surround-sound entertainment

A classic

With a slow-burning pace and a knack for a cliffhanger, Willocks builds the tension terrifically amid graphic slaughter and velvet-gloved treachery

A novel of high adventure, blood, guts and romantic love…as master craftsman, [Willocks] tells his story with extraordinary pace

Stone walls crumble, war machines rumble, bodies fill the ditches, and once in a while there’s some terrific sex. A long, bloody, vastly entertaining story

Starred Review. Willocks strikes gold with this epic account ... In Tannhauser, Willocks has created a dazzling hero whose debut will leave readers eager for the next installment

These might be the loveliest editions of Jane Austen’s novels we’ve seen in a long time

An absolute riot: a dry pastiche of gothic and romance novels that both celebrates, and rolls its eyes at, youthful credulity

It is Taylor’s achievement to have written a tense, page-turning thriller, enriched by acute social observation, within which unfolds a subtle meditation upon where the quest for peace ends and the path to treason begins

A highly successful thriller

The novel is much more than an intriguing exercise in alternative history… This is as skilful and enjoyable a novel as you can ask for, the work of a master-craftsman

A fascinating foray into the 'what if?'… Ingenious and extremely plausible

A gripping and highly convincing novel… Here are intrigue and clever parallel narratives… One emerges from immersion in this tantalizing creation admiring both Taylor’s art and the cleverness of his imagination

This is a gripping tale of intrigue

A splendidly disrespectful counterfactual history that questions the perceived patriotism of King Edward VIII and his notoriously pro-Hitler views

A witty, meticulous detailed alternative version of the second world war

While readers will delight in the excitement and adventure of this story, they will also learn about the poverty and difficulties faced by many children throughout the world and about the consequences of corruption in government

The chase leads them throughout the city, exposing the great disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots," and the huge injustice this represents. They face moral dilemmas throughout and, ultimately, make good decisions. Their intelligence and characters make the condition in which they live seem even more unfair

An exciting read full of suspense. This will appeal to boys and to girls, and could act as a stimulus to classroom discussion of poverty, child workers, recycling in third world countries and the misuse of economic and political power