Book Review: The Hangman's Daughter & The Dark Monk by Oliver Potzsch


Check it Out!  I've been busy checkin' out a couple of free Kindle books that I received via BzzAgent recently.  I loved how super easy is was to load them them up to Tori's Kindle Fire.  I really like ebooks on the Kindle Fire, because it allows me to read in the dark!

So first let me give you some background on these books, because they are not your ordinary stories!
 Oliver Potzsch's takes you to 17th-century Bavaria in these 2 novels that were originally published in Germany in 2009 and these stories contain a ton of characters.



In the first book The Hangman's Daughter, a dying boy is pulled from the river with a crudely tattooed mark of a witch on his shoulder and the local midwife is suspected.  Jakob Kuil is the Hangman and it's his job to get her confession and torturing her until she does confess is part of his job description!  Once you find out that this hangman still has to put a good drunk on the eve before a hanging, you realize that Jakob is the most compassionate hangman you will ever meet.
But this is a very dark and sorta gruesome story.  Full of death and some love, Jakob and Magdelena, his headstrong daughter are convinced that Martha Stechlin, the accused midwife is innocent and set out to try and prove it.
I did not particularly care for this novel and I had a hard time staying interested, it is just not my thing.  I love mysteries and even thrillers, but I just could not get interested in this story.




In the second installment, The Dark Monk, the Hangman and his daughter Magdelena are investigating the murder of the parish priest who was found poisoned.  Teaming up with the town physicians son they are on the hunt for the Treasure of the Knights Templar, but they aren't the only ones looking for the treasure.  A band of monks with intoxicating odors are tracking their every move and finding ways to throw them off the trail of the treasure.
Again, set in 17th Century Bavaria, this is just as dark and grim as the first.  I am not sure if it's the translation that gets me or if it is just the story, as I would find myself completely interested only to have it wane away and I had to force myself to keep reading.  It was fascinating though to read about plagues and how coffee was so exotic and how the devil played into everyday life. 

If you like 17th century stories, you definitely need to check these out!  And if you wanna get in on some opportunities to check out free products too, you need to check out BzzAgent.com!


*I received the products in this post compliments of BzzAgent for purposes of this review, however all opinions are my own.