The Day of Atonement

August 15, 2014
Liss (The Twelfth Enchantment, 2011, etc.) delves into a bitter corner of history to chronicle the tale of a young man trapped in the Portuguese Inquisition. It's 1755, and Sebastian Foxx, born Sebastiao Raposa, sails from London to Lisbon. "In Portugal, the Inquisition continued unabated and deadly, pervasive and merciless." Sebastian had been sent to England a decade previously, when he was 13. His parents, "New Christians" (forcibly converted Jews), fell victim to the Inquisition. Sebastian wants revenge, and he particularly wants to kill Father Pedro Azinheiro, all "youthful face and disarming smile." With detailed descriptions of gritty 18th-century life, the book never stumbles through anachronisms or artificial-sounding dialogue. Liss creates an Escape From New York-like narrative after the 1755 Great Earthquake, with Lisbon, a city of "peculiar charm and strange beauty," reduced to rubble, rape and rampage. Sebastian also wants to help Charles Settwell, an English trader who smuggled him out of Portugal and whom he now finds impoverished. Settwell blames the machinations of English traders Rutherford and Roberta Carver. Sebastian decides to recoup Settwell's fortune, but the further he proceeds, the more duplicity he uncovers, even on the part of his old friend Inacio, now the leader of a gang of miscreants. Liss focuses the romantic narrative thread on an unconsummated love between Sebastian and Roberta, which is the least satisfying portion of the novel. Trained as a "thief taker" by Benjamin Weaver (hero of other Liss works), Sebastian is driven by angst and anger-"[m]y broken soul was made for this. I was a devil and this was the pit." There is much derring-do as he brings Azinheiro to justice, copes with secrets, and arranges escapes to London for friends and foes alike. Historical fiction buffs will enjoy an action-packed adventure in an unusual setting.

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Starred review from September 1, 2014
In a spin-off from his highly praised novels featuring Benjamin Weaver, an eighteenth-century English thief-taker (a recoverer of stolen goods), Liss presents Sebastian Foxx. At 13, just after his New Christian father is seized by agents of the Inquisition in Lisbon, Foxx (born Sebastio Raposa) is sent to London and apprenticed to Weaver. Ten years later, he surreptitiously returns to Lisbon to settle scores: thanking Mr. Settwell, the Englishman who engineered his escape; finding Gabriela, the girl he still yearns for; andmost importantkilling Pedro Azinheiro, the priest behind his father's imprisonment. In Lisbon, he finds Settwell fallen on hard times with a young daughter he fears losing to the Inquisition; as Foxx vows to help, his tasks become more complex. Worse, as he is deceived even by those he believes he can trust, he errs in trying to do what is right, leaving destruction behind him and giving him more to atone for. While Weaver has been compared to Robert B. Parker's Spenser, Foxx is reminiscent of Lee Child's Jack Reacher: a man with his own moral code who takes on multiple adversaries simultaneously. With this protagonist and the Portuguese Inquisition setting, including the earthquake and tsunami of 1755, Liss has the start of another solidly researched, action-packed historical series here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

Starred review from September 1, 2014

Sebastian Foxx, born Sebastiao Raposa, a converso (a Jew who converted to Christianity), escaped the Inquisition by leaving Lisbon for London when he was 13 years old. The rest of his family, and many of their friends, died while in the hands of the Inquisitors. In London, Sebastian reverts to Judaism and is now ready to seek revenge on those responsible for the death of his family, including the Inquisitor who had them arrested. With skills learned in London from his mentor--"thief catcher" Benjamin Weaver--Sebastian, upon arrival back in Lisbon, locates former friends and enemies, but distinguishing between the two becomes more than vexing. In his latest historical thriller, Liss (The Twelfth Enchantment) portrays 18th-century Lisbon in vivid detail, leading up to the great earthquake of 1755. The history is well researched and furnishes an excellent portrait of Portugal under the ever-looming shadow of the Inquisition. VERDICT A compelling story of obsession and revenge, the novel is also ultimately a tale of redemption. Liss fans and aficionados of intelligent, well-written historical fiction will be eager for this title. [See Prepub Alert, 5/19/14.]--Vicki Gregory, Sch. of Information, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2015

In a spin-off from his Benjamin Weaver novels, Liss's historical thriller introduces Sebastian Foxx, one of Weaver's young proteges, who returns to 18th-century Portugal to avenge the deaths of his parents, who had been forced to convert to Christianity, at the hands of the Inquisition. Revenge, murder, love, lust, betrayal, and atonement all combine to make an intriguing read set in Lisbon before and during the earthquake of 1755. (LJ 9/15/14)

READ-ALIKES Laurel Corona's The Mapmaker's Daughter, Jeanne Kalogridis's The Inquisitor's Wife, and Mitchell James Kaplan's By Fire, by Water.

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June 15, 2014

Born Sebastiao Raposa, separated from his family by Portugal's Inquisition, and trained by bounty hunter Benjamin Weaver (a Liss regular), Sebastian Foxx travels to Lisbon in 1755 to track down the man who killed his father. He finds the requisite accomplices but must then contend with that fearsome earthquake. From a best-selling novelist who won the Barry, Macavity, and Edgar awards.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2014

Sebastian Foxx, born Sebastiao Raposa, a converso (a Jew who converted to Christianity), escaped the Inquisition by leaving Lisbon for London when he was 13 years old. The rest of his family, and many of their friends, died while in the hands of the Inquisitors. In London, Sebastian reverts to Judaism and is now ready to seek revenge on those responsible for the death of his family, including the Inquisitor who had them arrested. With skills learned in London from his mentor--"thief catcher" Benjamin Weaver--Sebastian, upon arrival back in Lisbon, locates former friends and enemies, but distinguishing between the two becomes more than vexing. In his latest historical thriller, Liss (The Twelfth Enchantment) portrays 18th-century Lisbon in vivid detail, leading up to the great earthquake of 1755. The history is well researched and furnishes an excellent portrait of Portugal under the ever-looming shadow of the Inquisition. VERDICT A compelling story of obsession and revenge, the novel is also ultimately a tale of redemption. Liss fans and aficionados of intelligent, well-written historical fiction will be eager for this title. [See Prepub Alert, 5/19/14.]--Vicki Gregory, Sch. of Information, Univ. of South Florida, Tampa

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 15, 2015
In Liss's ("The Whiskey Rebels") latest title, set during the Spanish Inquisition, there is plenty of action and suspense, but it's the characters and dialog that set it apart. In 1755, Sebastian Foxx is returning to his homeland of Portugal to hone his skills as a "thief hunter." Foxx is on the trail of the man who defrauded him and his family when Foxx was a boy in Lisbon. Foxx learned thief hunting from one of Liss's most intriguing characters, Benjamin Weaver, the protagonist of three of the author's earlier novels, including "A Conspiracy of Paper". Samuel Roukin reads the book in a slow, careful manner that permits the listener to concentrate on the rich tapestry of Jewish resentment, duplicitous maritime traders, cunning Jesuits, and everyday street denizens of 18th-century Portugal. VERDICT This selection will add a welcome touch of class to any audio collection. It's set in a period of time that has not been overdone, it deals with characters that listeners will really care about, and it will certainly encourage listeners to seek out other books by this first-class author.--Joseph L. Carlson, Vandenberg Air Force Base Lib., Lompoc, CA

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.