Rating: 
Summary: It's too bad...
Review: that, as at least one other reviewer mentioned, the protagonist is over the top and predictable. It really ruined for me what was an interesting and exciting story. I got tired of reading about perfect, too good to be true Kate Morgan and couldn't stomach finishing the book. My willing suspension of disbelief really hit the limit of willingness after she had quickly cracked several codes, admitted to being a kickbox expert/instructor, used the same type of rare gun for target practice that killed a professor and just happened to be found by a girl in a local pond when she stepped on it, AND was a fan years before of the very same gentleman cat burglar who was killed in the opening scene, (this is just a small sampling of conincidences and talents to easily deal with events in the story). Coincidences are ok, however, too many, just like cooks, can ruin a plot. A more believable, more human protagonist would have made this book a 5 star. And by the way... despite what the "esteemed" author reviewers say, this is no Da Vinci Code.
Rating: 
Summary: Marlowe delights as the playwright spy
Review: The mystery of 16th century playwright Christopher Marlowe's premature death is at the core of this stylish and intricate literary thriller, which bounces between the present day and Marlowe's last spying assignment in 1593.New Yorker Kate Morgan, well-rounded Renaissance scholar/private eye/spy, takes on a job involving the botched burglary of a suave English financier's home. The gentleman burglar was after a 16th century book written in code, which Kate quickly determines is a collection of intelligence reports from Elizabeth I's reign, during which time Marlowe took on undercover tasks for the Queen's ministers. While she's deciphering the manuscript she takes on another assignment to get next to a shady international art dealer who has just made an 11million dollar purchase from an Iranian intelligence officer. Unbeknownst to Kate, the Iranian and the art dealer are also involved in the smuggling of an American prisoner from an Iranian prison - a man Kate's boss intends to rescue. Marlowe, caught between rivals for the Queen's favor, takes on a smuggling case of his own - arms dealing, which may involve treason in the highest places. Low-tech Elizabethan eavesdropping and peeping, rumor mongering, slandering, blackmail, frame-ups, and political intrigue run counterpoint to slick modern versions of the same dangerous activities, albeit conducted on a global scale at instantaneous speeds. The Elizabethan sections, headed by quotes from Marlowe's plays, sometimes juxtaposed with quotes from Shakespeare, are excellent. Historical intrigues go forward in atmospheric context, amid tavern plates of venison stew or palace dishes of baked peacock, and under cover of crowded cockfights or the deep darkness of wooded estates or fleeting encounters on the crowded, fetid Thames. Tidbits about ciphers, the theater and Elizabeth's court emerge effortlessly through more speculative treatment of the historical players - including an explanation of the fate of Marlowe. The modern sections are less successful. The writing is uneven and while the action comes fast, the actors are too many and the plot becomes dizzyingly complex. Silbert, a real-life version of Kate, at least as far as resume goes, zips among her glittering, globe-trotting millionaires at a heady clip, sometimes switching viewpoints and countries three or four times in a chapter. Still, working the stories in tandem is a fine idea and Kate, while larger than life, is a brainy, enjoyable character, while the historical plotline is enough to carry the novel through the murkier modern tangle.
Rating: 
Summary: amazing -- exciting and clever
Review: this book blew me away. it's that rare combination of page-turner/spy thriller that actually makes you feel smarter for having read it. the way she weaves jet-set modern NYC private-investigator hijinks with brooding elizabethan england -- i couldn't put the book down. maybe it's the author's real-life PI experience...her harvard education...her good looks...whatever it is, keep your eye on leslie silbert. highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Cleverly crafted, top-notch entertainment
Review: This book is everything a thriller should be and more. Super entertaining, kept me hooked and distracted on a six-hour flight. But it's also loaded with fascinating info about Elizabethan history, spies, etc, plus cool details about intelligence matters today. Not to mention more witty, believable dialogue than any thriller I've read this year. I'm surprised a first time novelist pulled off such an intricately crafted, massively enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: High Brow Thriller
Review: This books combines a great story from the past with a great story from the present, moving back and forth and keeping you extremely entertained along the way. Of course, you know that two stories will intersect, but you don't know how until the very end! The DaVinci Code had parts that were simply unbelievable and, it turns out, not factually accurate. You believe everything you are reading in Leslie Silbert's first novel. She cleary knows her stuff and creates a very interesting character in female Private Investigator Kate Morgan. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: A WASTE OF TIME
Review: This is a great idea, badly executed. I was very interested in the historical mystery of Marlowe, but the writing is so awful it clouds the drama. There are so many good books out there, this one is NOT worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: DaVinci Code meets Alias¿but better
Review: This is a smashingly-good, action-packed first novel. It makes great use of a now-familiar gambit: unraveling the secrets of a mysterious historical document to avert present-day consequences. Writing with much wit and invention (as well as knowledge and authority), Silbert spins two interconnected tales: one centered on Christopher Marlowe and Elizabethan espionage, the other focused on CIA undercover operative Kate Morgan. Linked by a mysterious manuscript, the two stories build to a surprising but satisfying resolution that remains well concealed until the final pages. And don't miss Silbert's addendum, which explains which of the 16th century are based on historical events. Every element of this gripping adventure shines, from its suspenseful, globetrotting plot to its nicely rounded characters. Silbert is a rare discovery, and one hopes that she plans to produce more historical-oriented mysteries with the same skill and energy that propel this excellent debut.
Rating:
Summary: Really good story - hard to put down
Review: This was a really well written story, with amazing character development of so many different characters. She made you feel these historical people. She has almost everything right.
The only little details that aren't quite right come where she talks about things that aren't historical. For example:
- Kate Morgan doesn't get jet lag, and some small details about traveling aren't quite right. I fly all over all the time, so I notice that.
- The tranquilizers act too fast. It takes a while for an injected tranquilizer to circulate. The only way to get people down almost instantaneously is if it's injected into the side of the neck into the carotid arteries.
- Kate removes the bullets from the villains gun and he doesn't notice. I've handled guns, and there is a big difference in weight. Better strategy would be to remove the magazine and inject epoxy into the magazine so it won't feed or into the chamber, to block the chamber.
- It isn't possible to track an under-the-skin little chip from a satellite. Sorry to say. Wish it would work. You can read them from maybe a 30 meters or so. They would have lost her.
I really liked this story.
Rating:
Summary: First-rate entertainment
Review: This was an excellent page-turner. Looking forward to the next one from this author. She does a great blend of fact and fiction. And unlike other thrillers where the mystery involves a centuries-old secret, like the Da Vinci Code and Rule of Four, you actually get to see the historical figures in action, instead of just hearing modern characters talk about them. Half the chapters (every other one) are set in 1593, so the present-day heroine is investigating the mystery surrounding Christopher Marlowe's unsolved murder, while in the sixteenth-century chapters, you see Marlowe tackling his last intelligence assignment in the days leading up to his death. Ms. Silbert does a great job of juxtaposing intriguing parallels, showing similarities and differences between espionage and politics then and now, i.e. you see spies meeting up with spymasters, and illicit arms deals taking place centuries apart, in back to back chapters. If it were possible, I would have given this book four and a half stars, because it's not perfect. For a first time author, it is very impressive, but I think it needed more streamlining, perhaps fewer characters. I put it down halfway through when I went away on business, and couldn't remember who was plotting against who a week later, and had to backtrack a bit. Overall though, it's a fun, educational, very entertaining read.
Rating:
Summary: Highly entertaining
Review: This was great. I read it in one day. Completely satisfied my desire for escapist fun, but you also learn a lot. Especially about the Elizabethan playwright and spy, Christopher Marlowe. I also loved the present-day heroine, Kate Morgan. She's witty and engaging, with a fascinating area of expertise: curiosity and the pursuit of secrets and forbidden knowledge in the Renaissance. Can't wait to see what historical mystery she tackles next. Overall, I'd say this was my favorite thriller of the past several years. It's highly original and inventive, and thankfully, unpredictable...I hate it when you can spot an ending a mile away, but this one, not at all. I could not recommend it more highly.
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