I liked it very much overall. There was amzing historical accuracy and the plot line was far above average. The dialogue was believable. I did find the characters to be slightly larger than life, though. But, overall, I think it is worth five stars.
While this book is admittedly a page turner, I must say I was generally unimpressed by it. It is too long and drawn out, the characters are not very well developed, and a lot of vital information is withheld until the \"resolution\", which left me feeling cheated. While many murder mystery novels give the reader a chance to play detective and try to figure out \"who did it\" based on the facts, this one doesn\'t even attempt to let you try.
Quo Vadis, The Spear, The Robe; all these books were SO much better.