Official Review: The Rosario by Peter Sissons

[Theresa Moffitt]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Rosario" by Peter Sissons.]

---

4 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

The Rosario by Peter Sissons is a historical fiction novel full of suspense and mystery. Xavier Sinclair is an extremely wealthy Englishman living on a massive estate in the Catalonian Mountains called Eagle’s Cliff. He is obsessed with artifacts from the 16th century and has hired architects to create buildings to showcase his treasures. When he acquires a desk at auction that is rumored to have belonged to Sir Francis Drake, he hires Katie Stubbs, an authority on such historical artifacts, to examine and authenticate his purchase. Mr. Sinclair is a rude and verbally abusive employer, but he pays his employees extremely well. For this reason, his actions are tolerated to a certain extent.

Katie has an immediate attraction to Max Kraemer who is employed as Mr. Sinclair’s architect. They work well together and are sent by Sinclair to Germany and England to investigate a series of clues hidden in the 16th century desk. As Katie and Max come closer to discovering the truth about the 16th century secrets, Mr. Sinclair becomes more irrational and unpredictable. Katie and Max learn that their employer may be involved in dangerous and illegal activities that may put their lives in danger.

I really enjoyed reading this novel. The author created a fast-paced story that carries the reader through Spain, Germany and England and through time from present day back to the 16th century. I found the book difficult to put down. The details contained in the book regarding the desk and the secrets it held were impressive. Each discovery created a clue to another location for the characters to investigate. In addition to the investigation by Max and Katie, there are also simultaneous investigations by the authorities in Spain into Mr. Sinclair’s various businesses.

Each character introduced in this book was multi-dimensional and interesting. They added to the story and kept it moving at a fast pace. As a reader, I was engaged and interested in the story from the beginning to the end of the book. It reminded me of a Dan Brown novel that found clues in history to discover secrets from centuries ago. Katie and Max make a great team as they search for answers. I would have liked the author to develop the relationship of Max and Katie a little more. In their initial meeting, there was an obvious attraction, but then they were madly in love without exploring how their relationship reached that level so quickly. However, the love story is just a small part of the novel.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys historical fiction and suspenseful novels. Mr. Sissons is a gifted writer and I was surprised to learn this is his first novel. He did an excellent job of telling a detailed and entertaining story with interesting characters. I believe he must have conducted a considerable amount of research into the 16th century to provide the amount of details he introduced in the story. I saw only a few minor grammatical errors that did not distract from the story. I give this book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

******
The Rosario
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Juliet+1]

I dislike when authors take their characters from first meeting to passionate love, but I can tolerate it if the rest of the book is good, and this one sounds like a real winner. It's going right on my "want to read" list.