[HWX]≡ Read Free Ovid Marcus Covinus #1 Marcus Corvinus David Wishart 9781933397399 Books

Ovid Marcus Covinus #1 Marcus Corvinus David Wishart 9781933397399 Books

Download As PDF : Ovid Marcus Covinus #1 Marcus Corvinus David Wishart 9781933397399 Books

Ovid Marcus Covinus #1 Marcus Corvinus David Wishart 9781933397399 Books

The good news is that the book is well written and expertly researched. The bad news is that it's boring. The plot revolves around the fact that the Roman poet Ovid has died while being banished to some remote hell hole at the very ends of the Roman Empire. The family wants to have his ashes returned for internment in the family tomb. However, the powers that be, forbid it for some unknown reason. Our hero then tries to figure out what the problem is. He does this by engaging in an endless, mind numbing series of extremely long, complex, speculative, conversations with various individuals about what can be done to remedy the situation and who can do it. While doing so, he uses a style of speech that would be appropriate for Nero Wolfe's Archie Goodwin, or the East Side Kids, rather than that of a Roman noble. Someone tries to bump him off a time or three and you find yourself rooting for the bad guys just to shut him up. The book is really not worth the time. This author has the talent to do better.


Tags : Ovid: Marcus Covinus #1 (Marcus Corvinus) [David Wishart] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Nobleman by birth, loutish party boy by temperament, Marcus Corvinus is a citizen of ancient Rome, but he would be as much at home in a champagne-stained tux as he is in a toga. He'd like to shed that toga for the beautiful Lady Perilla,David Wishart,Ovid: Marcus Covinus #1 (Marcus Corvinus),Felony & Mayhem,193339739X,Historical - General,Mystery & Detective - General,Mystery & Thrillers,ENGLISH HISTORICAL FICTION,FICTION Historical General,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction Mystery & Detective General,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,Fiction: Historical,Fiction: Mystery & Detective General,GENERAL,General Adult,MYSTERY AND SUSPENSE FICTION,Monograph Series, 1st,Mystery & Detective - Historical,MysterySuspense,SCOTTISH NOVEL AND SHORT STORY,United States

Ovid Marcus Covinus #1 Marcus Corvinus David Wishart 9781933397399 Books Reviews

A Roman nobleman tries to convince Tiberius to let the ashes of the poet Ovid be buried in Rome. The stiff opposition he gets makes him suspicious and he looks into the matter, eventually uncovering a complex web of intrigue and treason.
Once it gets going, the story is absorbing and fast paced. Still, some qualms. Most disconcerting are the anachronisms in the first person narrative, using words such as "easy-peasy" and other modern expressions a Roman would never have uttered.
Second, there are the hoary old mystery tropes--for Pete's sake, the narrator's girlfriend is kidnapped, just like in every other episode of Mannix.
Last there are the endless reiteration s of the analysis of the clues, and about sixteen different moments when the narrator tells you he's had a blinding insight that solves the whole thing.
The first in the Marcus Valerius Corvinus series of Roman mysteries, and the best. The book introduces our hero -- an aristocrat who is much more interested in having fun than in doing his civic duty, which puts him at odds with his father and family. He is asked by the (extremely attractive) Lady Perilla to help her get the ashes of her uncle, the poet Ovid, back from his place of exile on the Black Sea. Marcus efforts lead him deep into political plot and counterplot, and into danger of death.

Wishart, a classics professor, gives us yet another brilliant recreation of ancient Rome, and is particularly good at weaving his fiction around actual historical events. And he is a very funny writer -- Marcus is a reprehensible hero, but one with a distinctive voice and a very sharp tongue. Very enjoyable book.
I was about to buy one of the Corvinus mysteries for the first time, and decided to at least start with the first one. Loved the political plot(s) as Corvinus uncovered the threads, but I find the dialogue a strange combination of black & white Hollywood detective films and serving-class English stereotypes (Corvinus calls everyone "pal" but there are also a lot of "guys"), so I cannot place anyone in either an Italian or a classical context. To be sure, street Roman wasn't Ciceronian ... but the way the characters speak make them seem like cartoons to me. I'm having trouble hanging in for the second Wishart I bought at the ssame time ...
As a lover of historical mystery novels (particularly those set in classical Rome) and Ovidian poetry, I was quite excited to find this novel.

That lasted until I began reading, at which point I received quite a jolt. The language was coarse and concise, and left me feeling as though I'd inadvertently been dropped into a poor imitation of a Phillip Dick novel.

I persisted through that and found the novel improved as it progressed, but I felt the storyline--while meant to be suspenseful bordering on horror--felt forced and flat while the narrator had such a modern sensibility that most of the feel of the classical environment of the novel felt supressed.

If read with different expectations, as primarily a noir mystery novel as opposed to novel about the life and times of Ovid, I feel the book is probably decent, though not particularly brilliant.
Although there is a lot of detail and period names, the voices in the story speak with a more modern dialect making it a little easier to weave through the complex story bolstered by actual events but also the inventions of the author. I thoroughly enjoyed "Finished Business" and decided to start with Book 1 of the Marcus Corvinus series. What makes this opening book so much fun is that Marcus begins by solving a cold case in order to solve what would normally seem like a very simple request. All of the ins, outs and intrigues can get confusing so I recommend slowing down and really enjoying new characters, the back stories, the environment, and the young Marcus who will be maturing and growing as this series continues. I only hope each story is as enjoyable and fun to read. I guess I will find out since I just got three more.
This book is unbelievably bad - juvenile attempts at 'tough guy' dialogue, bad descriptions and a limping plot. It's not even so bad it's good, it's just bad...like a parody of a parody.

And the shame of it is, there is real potential here if the author can just get out of his own way. There are some good bits in it, but you have to wade through the dreck to get them. Clean up the repetitive try-hard dialogue, give the weasel of a 'hero' another dimension and make an attempt to tighten the plot, this could be a pretty good book. He keeps cranking them out - maybe they get better. Two stars for potential.

I ordered three of the volumes in this series - not sure if I'll tackle the second two or just lot them up and sell them on eBay for a few bucks to some other poor sap like myself.
The good news is that the book is well written and expertly researched. The bad news is that it's boring. The plot revolves around the fact that the Roman poet Ovid has died while being banished to some remote hell hole at the very ends of the Roman Empire. The family wants to have his ashes returned for internment in the family tomb. However, the powers that be, forbid it for some unknown reason. Our hero then tries to figure out what the problem is. He does this by engaging in an endless, mind numbing series of extremely long, complex, speculative, conversations with various individuals about what can be done to remedy the situation and who can do it. While doing so, he uses a style of speech that would be appropriate for Nero Wolfe's Archie Goodwin, or the East Side Kids, rather than that of a Roman noble. Someone tries to bump him off a time or three and you find yourself rooting for the bad guys just to shut him up. The book is really not worth the time. This author has the talent to do better.