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Type of bind: Audio Cassette
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN num: 9781433227493
ISBN number: 1433227495
Label: Blackstone Audiobooks
Manufacturer: Blackstone Audiobooks
Quantity: 6
Printing Date: 2008-07
Publishing house: Blackstone Audiobooks
Sale Popularity Level: 2227371
Studio: Blackstone Audiobooks
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Product Description:
Blackmail, corruption, treachery, murder--the glory that was Rome.
In this Edgar Award-nominated mystery, John Maddox Roberts takes readers back to a Rome filled with violence and evil. Vicious gangs ruled the streets of Crassus and Pompey, routinely preying on plebeian and patrician alike, so the garroting of a lowly ex-slaved and the disembowelment of a foreign merchant in the dangerous Subura district seemed of little consequence to the Roman hierarchy. But Decius Caecilius Metellus the Younger--highborn commander of the local vigiles--was determined to investigate. Despite official apathy, brazen bribes, and sinister threates, Decius uncovers a world of corruption at the highest levels of his government that threatens to destroy him and the government he serves.
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Rated by buyers 
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The King's Gambit is the very first book in a mystery series set in the last days of the Republic. Decius Caecilius Metellus is given the job of solving a murder nobody wants solved. In other words, the people in charge want him to turn in the paperwork and blame the crime on whoever it is easy to pin the crime on. But Decius is one of those people who can't let it go. Not really because of duty as much as he doesn't like being told what to do. At least it seems that way to me. If you love Rome and the history, then pick up this book. Action, sex, thrills, with tons of information about the daily life in Rome without the hundreds of pages you might get with some authors, like Colleen McCullough. Not that I didn't love The First Man In Rome or The Grass Crown, but many people don't have weeks to read one book. This is a great little book, with a map of Rome and a glossary. At 259 pages, you can finish this book in a day or two.
Rated by buyers -
Excellent from the point of view of scholarship and literary skill. Amusing and instructive.
Rated by buyers 
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John Maddox Robert's "The King's Gambit" is a solid very first salvo in what promises to be a well-researched, if not exactly thrilling, set of mysteries set in the years of the late Roman Republic. "Gambit" follows a minor Roman magistrate, Decius of the Metellii, as he investigates a couple of murders in his district that, of course, lead to a much larger criminal conspiracy - one that threatens to tear the fabric of the Republic apart.
"Gambit" is a tightly-written book, with the paperback edition clocking in at barely 260 pages, not counting the handy glossary of Roman terms and sketchy map of the City of Rome. Decius is a worthy protagonist, content to be a minor scion of a major house, but who is surprised to find within himself a stubborn dedication to duty that would make his ancestors proud. Despite all the usual instructions to drop the case before he finds himself on the receiving end of a dagger or garrotte, Decius pursues his man.
And he does so through city streets that Roberts describes well. The recent spate of Rome-based drama, not least HBO's smash hit "Rome," has focused less on the Rome of marble and gold and more on the dirty, grimy back alleys and ramshackle tenements. Roberts reminds the reader that Romans were not made of marble with a well-rounded set of minor characters and Decius's strong sense of self-deprecation.
All that is to the good. Unfortunately, the Law of Economy of Characters makes it pretty easy to solve Roberts' mystery - and I don't pride myself as a great mystery solver, and am usually stumped by them until the grand unveiling in the final act. Also, the threat to Rome seems a bit far-fetched . . . indeed, many of the players in the novel treat Decius's little mystery as nothing more than a minor irritation.
Still, Roberts' very first novel has convinced me to dive deeper into this series and see if it delivers on the promise of "Gambit." And that's not something that every author can say with his or her very first book!
Rated by buyers -
This is the very first book in the SPQR series about a Roman investigator named Decius Caecilium Metellus. The story takes place in 70 B.C. during the rise of Julius Caeser. It provides more historical background than many mysteries set in the past. But he mystery itself is rather obvious and predictable.
You learn quite a bit about social classes and the politics of the times. The mystery is more or less secondary and involves multiple murders and political corruption.
I especially liked the glossary at the end of the book. I used it quite heavily for the very first chapter or two.
Rated by buyers -
John Maddox Roberts starts off the SPQR series with a great book. His research is obviously thorough and the fascinating details of everyday Roman life are most interesting. The reader is lead little by little, clue by clue, to the satisfying conclusion. Makes you want to read the rest of the series!
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