Books Reviews

Defender of Rome – Book Review

By Angela Youngman Sep 17, 2012, 17:59 GMT

Gaius Valerius Verrens returns to Rome from the successful campaign against Boudicca in Britain. Now hailed a "Hero of Rome," Valerius is not the man he once was-scarred both physically and emotionally by the battles he has fought, his sister is mortally ill, his father in self-imposed exile. And neither is Rome the same city as the one he left. The Emperor Nero grows increasingly paranoid. Those who seek power ...more

Another installment in the story of Gaius Valerius Verrens. Having become a hero of Rome, Verrens is struggling to cope with life in the capital.  Despite trying to keep his distance from the mad emperor Nero; he finds it impossible to avoid Nero's command to become a Defender of Rome. 

Ordered to seek out the leader of the Christians who are gaining popularity within Rome, Verrens finds himself in a very difficult position. The person he is ordered to find has actually saved his sister's life - does he give him up or not? And what of Nero's threat to condemn every Judean in the capital – and Verrens himself - to the executioners if Verrens does not obey? Verrens has difficult choices to make.

At times the action falters, as Verrens gets sent off to remote parts of the empire leaving the reader wondering just what has happened to the main plot line. As a portrayal of a man under terrible stress and in a position of great difficulty, this is an interesting book.