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A Burnable Book
Bruce Holsinger
A stunning debut historical thriller set in the turbulent 14th Century for fans of CJ Sansom, The Name of the Rose and An Instance of the Fingerpost.London, 1385. A city of shadows and fear, in a kingdom ruled by the headstrong young King Richard II, haunted by the spectre of revolt. A place of poetry and prophecy, where power is bought by blood.For John Gower, part-time poet and full-time trader in information, secrets are his currency. When close confidant, fellow poet Geoffrey Chaucer, calls in an old debt, Gower cannot refuse.The request is simple: track down a missing book. It should be easy for a man of Gower’s talents, who knows the back-alleys of Southwark as intimately as the courts and palaces of Westminster.But what Gower does not know is that this book has already caused one murder, and that its contents could destroy his life.Because its words are behind the highest treason – a conspiracy to kill the king and reduce his reign to ashes…
For my mother, Sheila, who taught me to write
At Prince of Plums shall prelate oppose
A faun of three feathers with flaunting of fur,
Long castle will collar and cast out the core,
His reign to fall ruin, mors regis to roar.
By bank of a bishop shall butchers abide,
To nest, by God’s name, with knives in hand,
Then springen in service at spiritus sung.
In palace of prelate with pearls all appointed,
By kingmaker’s cunning a king to unking,
A magnate whose majesty mingles with mort.
By Half-ten of Hawks might shender be shown.
On day of Saint Dunstan shall Death have his doom.
The thirteenth prophecy, from Liber de MortibusRegum Anglorum
(‘Book of the Deaths of English Kings’)
Table of Contents
Cover (#ud24bd6f7-025e-5102-96fd-25c2df2057e3)
Title Page (#u559cac28-f2a0-5f97-9510-9c44a3d8e16c)
Dedication (#ufc4f1de3-4fbd-52ef-9f8c-90436a347214)
Epigraph (#u94f4b45b-1b92-5f2f-9fce-cc910fce0222)
Cast of Characters (#u24d5c7d8-b4d9-5e5e-90af-66317f809a0c)
Map (#u63325267-65c4-5e5d-9812-64097f4b59c5)
Family Tree (#ub5271c50-00be-52bf-8c78-55c14676bd8f)
Prologue (#u1fa576a4-ae54-5c55-a42c-c5dfbe48c989)
Part One: The Prince of Plums (#uf80cd477-58b9-5b01-a95f-cfe73d099413)
Chapter One (#ub126151a-89d4-556a-ba22-2de765e551e5)
Chapter Two (#ube38ef9e-c4f7-5ed2-a263-8607fc325518)
Chapter Three (#u2c5d9a20-2afa-5095-b8ac-4dabded98836)
Chapter Four (#ua506ab7e-9671-5fc2-aa43-e7012a645823)
Chapter Five (#u3855ffe0-be7b-5954-8b8f-920d68df6c82)
Chapter Six (#u5461b4c7-145c-5501-84de-f081aa3243df)
Chapter Seven (#uc185aa2d-d70a-5f8d-93b4-8e7b403df573)
Chapter Eight (#u421b6050-f074-5441-8803-2c46815f4afb)
Chapter Nine (#ub377538d-6efa-51ec-94a1-4fadc5921797)
Chapter Ten (#ud5095781-a29a-54f5-ac4a-2b8663da4654)
Chapter Eleven (#ufa2f698c-7d7c-57df-97b1-03151b68f4cf)
Chapter Twelve (#ufe4b1be8-e32a-5d74-8980-02eb9b0352e8)
Chapter Thirteen (#ud8956069-e17a-530a-b49b-5d4f69fe0717)
Chapter Fourteen (#u55723622-3aeb-59de-8346-54b5b19e5c0f)
Chapter Fifteen (#ufa12e875-6bf9-52bf-a336-e5b605054dec)
Chapter Sixteen (#ue751b3ba-f1fa-5041-9cae-ed31a4ed40b9)
Chapter Seventeen (#u87bd4a5a-4d27-5ca3-94ae-890d8539bd37)
Part Two: Faun of Three Feathers (#u3f9ffc88-0913-5968-bd9f-009b41385e6b)
Chapter Eighteen (#ub041e330-9878-5733-9319-b7713bd50cd2)
Chapter Nineteen (#ub126a8e6-6928-51b2-9188-05638fc13a92)
Chapter Twenty (#ub51cecdc-1a7c-5ca1-b7d0-9894359e912b)
Chapter Twenty-One (#u604144b1-e000-5b28-bb27-3d716598db94)
Chapter Twenty-Two (#u9817a02f-841b-52c2-82b4-6dae46e38251)
Chapter Twenty-Three (#ue7f554d2-70bc-5ad8-ab61-f8b37a4818ca)
Chapter Twenty-Four (#u6adf861f-fed0-5632-a8d6-fce4e30a6a19)
Chapter Twenty-Five (#u82142818-8984-5bb4-8731-7874d64ef4d4)
Chapter Twenty-Six (#u0a28fa44-7f4b-5c56-bbf5-e2e30a4a1d4e)
Chapter Twenty-Seven (#u62be9e03-0602-54ff-9ebe-86e4ed79b709)
Chapter Twenty-Eight (#u6cc42350-7786-579c-975c-331188559ef2)
Chapter Twenty-Nine (#u517366c0-9bae-5b40-9b41-a1b25f322058)
Chapter Thirty (#u9c5f170f-b888-580f-ba82-8ca5906481ae)
Chapter Thirty-One (#u6acc6841-bca6-575b-a218-129354874f00)
Chapter Thirty-Two (#u741bff27-2d73-51ae-99f9-cdfcde093323)
Chapter Thirty-Three (#u6a419b8f-6696-5885-b3c9-2bf9582145ae)
Chapter Thirty-Four (#ud37d2a26-ea3c-5044-85d9-88d26b85a0aa)
Chapter Thirty-Five (#ue594284a-8f3a-5b1c-9a4f-60af0360fe18)
Chapter Thirty-Six (#u75a69d18-3a29-5f99-a6fb-fe0cd72849d9)
Chapter Thirty-Seven (#u93c0e223-490e-5194-8afe-64a42fd25bbf)
Part Three: Half-ten of Hawks (#u422acc94-4fef-5be2-a839-3d2ee62002fc)
Chapter Thirty-Eight (#uc4101e54-47a4-58a7-95e6-55ffd4a3b2ba)
Chapter Thirty-Nine (#ub357ab14-4bf8-5628-8f83-28bcbeacdca5)
Chapter Forty (#u6e544d3a-3d56-5ec8-991a-34bb993d0530)
Chapter Forty-One (#ud82cceab-8397-5c98-ae9f-cab627478dac)
Chapter Forty-Two (#u2f22a67a-4356-5004-8ece-6557d4229822)
Chapter Forty-Three (#u98779262-60a7-52f2-bfbf-ff9481a0e5d6)
Chapter Forty-Four (#uba71ef2d-7a75-5ef0-b08b-02f7907ee401)
Chapter Forty-Five (#u974f2b8a-7b58-58d6-959c-4365daa575d6)
Chapter Forty-Six (#u71fb7fb0-f80d-5c39-b57a-b5e082661c80)
Chapter Forty-Seven (#u4c8d8a03-807a-5fe0-bb10-01d49fc5c7d6)
Chapter Forty-Eight (#uc281ca57-a22e-5a5d-82ee-96f3940dd5a1)
Chapter Forty-Nine (#u72c68190-c489-5c7d-b88d-bd80a0a8e0b7)
Chapter Fifty (#u6b042a8c-018f-5eb7-acbe-0518197404a0)
Chapter Fifty-One (#u3e668ca1-6b20-54a4-a81f-c7c57b63d631)
Chapter Fifty-Two (#ua15311ee-5f71-52f6-8e6f-a528071db5f9)
Chapter Fifty-Three (#uf57a9865-e426-5c0b-9d8d-04e05dc660a2)
Chapter Fifty-Four (#u85439d68-0f56-5b09-8cb8-841c00f7ec8a)
Chapter Fifty-Five (#u812b5612-8b76-5bff-8d9b-e1a80eea24dc)
Chapter Fifty-Six (#u9ac3f213-3934-5c79-9eb9-303d32d9590e)
Chapter Fifty-Seven (#ud26163a2-6f0e-5721-aa36-195c2bae92bb)
Chapter Fifty-Eight (#u4fc9f801-86ab-5ce4-956f-4b1916240a40)
Chapter Fifty-Nine (#u47af9a3a-ffb1-50a0-850d-bf7174ff787b)
A Note to the Reader (#ua6420867-ffec-59fe-b5a5-c02d2378ef45)
Acknowledgments (#u0f853e2f-e2e1-500a-b19e-14956e1256f6)
About the Author (#u903b3494-3238-5e76-a861-4e89c8707e89)
Copyright (#uefaa8fdc-fdc6-52fd-8d62-788b3b96cfd9)
About the Publisher (#u0bb1ad9f-f361-5400-ae49-f664b9e57734)
CAST OF CHARACTERS (#ulink_d45eebaf-80a4-5c73-8d2b-c022ec8bed05)
ENGLISH ROYALS, MAGNATES, AND RELATIONS
Richard II, King, son of Prince Edward (the Black Prince)
John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, brother of Prince Edward
Henry of Bolingbroke, son and heir to John of Gaunt
Joan, Countess of Kent, mother of King Richard II
Robert de Vere, Earl of Oxford
