Adam Williams returns to historical fiction with A River of Blood – a medieval Egyptian murder mystery
A River of Blood – Available NOW in all major bookstores!
Egypt 1099 CE, Qahira (Cairo)
Samuel, a Jewish doctor versed in alchemy, and Gregory, his English apprentice, are investigating a terrifying plague. The Nile has turned red with blood and fish are dying.
Near a small island, they wrangle a badly torn body from the jaws of a crocodile – but was this beast the killer? Samuel suspects foul play yet the authorities block his efforts to find the truth at every step. Ignoring the warnings from people in high places, and with nothing more to guide him than his scientific method, Samuel is determined to persist in his quest, especially after a series of gruesome murders seem to confirm his early suspicion.
Little does he know that the secret he will stumble on could shake the empire.
Assassins are on the prowl. A child is being hunted. Who finds him first will change the course of history…
A superb offering by one of the most exciting historical novelists working today.
Philip Snow, author of China and Russia: Four Centuries of Conflict and Concord
Flora Fraser, author of Pretty Young Rebel, The Life of Flora MacDonald
Adam Williams has brought off a tour de force in this enthralling narrative of Jews, Muslims and Christians living a precarious existence in 11th-century Cairo and in a Jerusalem besieged by Crusaders.
Out Now! A Sea of Tears – the much-anticipated sequel to A River of Blood
There is fighting all over the Middle East, Christian mercenaries are marching on Jerusalem and militias are hauling in weapons, preparing for a siege. Among them are four secret agents, whose mission is to seek out and save a mother and child from assassins. If found, they might change the course of history.
The story so far: A Sea of Tears is the much-anticipated sequel to Adam Williams’ well-received novel A River of Blood in which Samuel, a Jewish professor discovers a mutilated body on the bank of the River Nile and decides to play detective. Little did he know that the secret he has stumbled on could shake the empire. Assassins are on the prowl, a mother and child are being hunted, yet the authorities block Samuel’s efforts to find the truth at every step. Ignoring warnings from people in high places, and with nothing more to guide him than his scientific method, Samuel persists in his quest, and it does not take long before he realizes the State itself wants him dead.
A Sea of Tears takes the story on. Samuel and his friends have arrived in Palestine. Now it is a race against time to get to Jerusalem. Killers are on the prowl. The murderer Al Haddad is on their tail. Everything points to the possibility that the mother and child are disguised and hiding in Jerusalem, but time is running out. Even if they did find them, there may be no way to escape before either the Christian army takes the city. And as the tension rises, who can trust who?
A gripping, colourful and complicated story, a brilliant tale of one man’s determination to solve a series of murders in 11th century Egypt. I know of no other historical novelist who could match Adam Williams’ depiction of such.
Christopher New, author of The Chinese Box
A Sea of Tears – Available NOW in all major bookstores!
Adam Williams – writer, speaker, businessman and novelist
Adam is the author of three acclaimed historical novels about China – The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure, The Emperor’s Bones and The Dragon’s Tail – and in 2009 he published a novel about the Spanish Civil War – The Book of the Alchemist. His latest book – A River of Blood – is a medieval murder mystery set against the background of Egypt and Palestine at the time of the First Crusade.
Twenty eight years a businessman and banker in Beijing, he is the fourth generation of his family to be living and working in China.
Adam is published in fifteen languages, most recently in Chinese. The Mandarin version of The Emperor’s Bones was the No 1 Bestseller in the New Novels Category of Dang Dang Wang, China’s largest on line bookstore and has received high critical acclaim in all China’s main newspapers and literary magazines.
