Praise for The Silent Boy:
‘Taylor has not only succeeded in constructing a labyrinthine plot that is gripping to the last page, but he also created an entirely believable child, traumatised but resolute, whose plight is the fuel for true suspense’ Guardian
‘As a writer, Taylor wears his learning lightly and shares with Hilary Mantel the capacity to take the reader directly into a vanished world’ Times Literary Supplement
‘[Andrew] Taylor is a wonder; once again he marries flawlessly integrated historical detail (revolutionary France conjured as vividly as in Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities) and a knotty and involving mystery as strong as anything in the historical crime fiction field. I suspect Taylor should start clearing a space next to his current writing trophies’ Financial Times
‘Don’t keep quiet about The Silent Boy. Tell everyone: it’s a really excellent page-turning thriller set in a fascinating period in Anglo-French history’ Robert Goddard
‘Many elements of The Silent Boy bring Dickens to mind: the ill-treated child, the streets of old London, the kindness of strangers, the excellent storytelling, even the names of some the characters. It is utterly gripping, extremely well executed and suspenseful to the last’ Spectator
'Taylor's mastery of plot and character show to great effect in a story that has a depth few other historical crime novels can match' Sunday Times
'I enjoyed this book very much indeed. I found the evocation of late 18th Century England, and the French exiles, effortlessly authentic, the hunt for Charles gripping, and the portrayal and first-person narrative of the helpless, traumatised, yet strong and resourceful little boy moving and believable. An excellent work.' C J Sansom, author of Revelation
‘The Silent Boy is a gripping and atmospheric thriller – the perfect blend of dark suspense, appealing characters and fascinating history. I loved it!’ Antonia Hodgson, author of The Devil in the Marshalsea
10/01/2015
Covered in blood, 11-year-old Charles, mute from the horror he has just witnessed, stumbles through the streets of 1792 Paris in the grips of revolution. No longer safe in France, Charles is sent to a country estate in England with other exiled aristocrats. Edward Savill, the estranged husband of Charles's mother, is dispatched to collect him from the estate and deliver him into the care of his great uncle. When Charles is kidnapped, Savill, unsure whom to trust in a complicated web of spies and betrayals, must find the boy before he is discovered by those who want him dead. VERDICT This second novel starring Savill (after the Crime Writers' Association Historical Dagger-winning The Scent of Blood) delves into the complicated world of English and French espionage during the French Revolution. A slow start is balanced by the increased pace of the novel's second half and a conclusion that simultaneously ties up loose ends while leaving enough open for future books. Many characters are thinly drawn, but the complicated intrigue and rich historical details of London life in the late 18th century, along with vivid descriptions of the sights, sounds, and smells Charles encounters on his journey, will keep readers engaged. [See Prepub Alert, 4/13/15.]—Sarah Cohn, Manhattan Coll. Lib., Bronx, NY
2015-07-29
In Taylor's newest historical crime novel (The Scent of Death, 2014, etc.), Edward Savill, home in London after working for the American Department in New York during the Revolutionary War, must deal with a shocking personal crisis. Savill has left government to work as a property agent for foreign investors, but then comes unexpected news from Rampton, the former American Department head: he says his niece, Savill's long-estranged wife, Augusta, has been killed in revolutionary Paris. She's left a 10-year-old son, Charles, father unknown, who's been brought to England and left at Charnwood, near Bath, under the care of French refugees Fournier, a former cleric who may be an atheist; Count de Quillon, who "dabbl[ed] with the Revolution when it suited his purpose"; and their physician, Dr. Gohlis. Rampton, who's chief of the mysterious Black Letter Office, tells Savill he wants him to fetch the boy, an important task because there are "elements that have to do with the safety of the kingdom and the impending war with France." Savill is a cautious, intelligent protagonist, but he turns relentless after Charles is kidnapped and taken to London. Taylor's mystery is a true puzzler, but it's his mastery of life in chaotic Paris and London in 1792 that dazzles, and his portrayal of Charles, who was struck mute after his mother's killers terrorized him, is empathetic. The boy counts compulsively—"measurements make a fortress of facts that protects him as he sleeps"—and adopts an écorché, a corpse transmuted into an anatomical model, as a friend. Motives push and pull. The count claims to be Charles' father. Rampton wants an heir. Savill feels a moral obligation to the child of a woman he once loved. As characters travel across England on nearly impassable muddy, rutted roads and stop at crude inns serving chicken, chops, and sherry, Taylor offers a readable take on social mores, class interactions, and great houses populated by aristocrats "icily elegant, ambitious to the point of ruthlessness." A touch of intrigue, a soupçon of espionage, wrapped in tense and suspense-laden mystery.