By Marini & Desberg
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849181761
This book just gets better and better. Not only is it a cracking script from Desberg that incorporates just the right balance of adventure, daring-do and intrigue, but Marini’s artwork is so effortlessly gorgeous that you are utterly transplanted into the crumbling streets, decadent houses and dank cellars of Rome alongside the protagonists and villains of the piece.
After the major coup over Trebaldi in the previous book, the Scorpion and Hussar are pushing Trebaldi’s warrior monks hard with both blade and bribe, slowly thinning their numbers and further weakening the pope’s position. But Trebaldi isn’t beaten yet, and so he unleashes a group of nefarious assassins onto the streets to stop the Scorpion cold. But there’s another mysterious scarred figure stalking the shadows who seems to be better informed on the Scorpion’s past.
Trebaldi has also now turned against his own family as a means to secure the wealth and its power he so desperately needs to secure his position, and while a figure thought dead reappears to handle his dirty work, Trebaldi’s brother, Nelio, is sprung from captivity by the Scorpion and a debt incurred. This isn’t the only uneasy alliance Nelio has to cope with, as he’s been promised the hand of Ansea, and as plans for that marriage step up it’s clear that more treachery and betrayal can be expected.
With the warrior monks so utterly decimated, the Scorpion makes it into the Vatican to warn Marie-Ange, rescue Mejai and confront Trebaldi with all he has learned, and one of those tantalising nuggets of information just might be to do with the Scorpion’s parentage.
Sumptuous, intricate, exciting and brilliantly entertaining, this is rapidly becoming one of the best books out there.
And if you liked that: You’ll only have to wait until June 2014 for the next one!
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