Genre ... Historical Fiction/Adventure
Publication Date ... 13th August 2026
Publisher ... Head of Zeus
Estimated Page Count ... 512
Standalone Novel
Author Content Warning ... Violence
Purchase Link ... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Knife-Maker-Venice-David-Gilman/dp/1035910373
Richard's skills as a blacksmith see him fetch a high price, but the pirate captain has other plans for Elizabeth and once they are separated, Richard has no idea of his sister's fate. They must both learn to survive on a deadly voyage into the unknown.
Sold into servitude in Venice: glittering, vicious city of secrets, he is apprenticed to a knife maker. Richard's talents soon win him renown... but haunted by his sister's absence, he vows never to stop looking for her, knowing she would do the same for him.
First he must survive that city of ghosts. Will the siblings live to see each other again, or will they join the myriads lost to Venice, where life is cheap, profit is all, and escape nigh-on impossible?
A powerful historical adventure perfect for fans of Kate Mosse, Ken Follett and Robert Harris.
Beginning with a list of the characters {the English, the Ottoman Turks, the Venetians and the Germans}, most of them fictional but some actual individuals {though not necessarily well known ones}. I must admit it seemed quite a lengthy list which isn't necessarily a bad thing but the older I get the more I find myself thinking 'who?' when faced with a large cast.
A character I already cared for by the end of the two page prologue. We are first introduced to the book's mainstay Richard Sherriff, then aged ten and the son and somewhat reluctant cabin boy of the captain of the White Dove {a thirty-four man, thirty-five if you count Richard, fishing vessel}, one stormy and fateful night at sea.
Jumping forward to chapter one, several years have passed since we first met Richard who, now a young man, is apprenticed to the local blacksmith when he and his sister, Elizabeth, along with the other villagers are captured, destined to be sold as slaves by a man, a pirate who is not unknown to Elizabeth.
What follows is a cleverly written adventure story, the author expertly painting an authentic picture of Venice, the politics, the divide between the 'have and have nots' and, most starkly of all, the bleak fate facing most of the women sold into slavery all without over describing things which is quite some feat given that much of the formative chapters are given over to world-building and setting the scene.
One of those books I found myself reading until silly o' clock, telling myself 'just one more chapter' and then another and, well, you know how it is.
Strong, vulnerable and everything in between. Like them or loathe them, from Richard and Elizabeth to some deliciously bad baddies, I can hand or heart say that not once did I find myself asking 'who?'
If The Knife Maker Of Venice is anything to go by not only a good writer but a master storyteller. I'll be sure to keep a look out for the other novels by David Gilman such was my enjoyment of this, his latest book.
With thanks to Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for organising a paper copy. One of several bloggers participating in the Blog Tour of this book, agree or disagree with me, all opinions are my own; no financial compensation was asked for nor given; threats of violence towards my favourite teddy bear went unheeded as did promises of chocolate.
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