The Bull Slayer, Bruce Macbain
The Bull Slayer, Bruce Macbain
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The Bull Slayer
A Plinius Secundus Mystery

Author: Bruce Macbain

Narrator: Paul Michael Garcia

Unabridged: 9 hr 8 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/18/2013


Synopsis

Sometimes murder is only a distraction from the real betrayal. Pliny, a respectable young senator and lawyer, is the newly appointed governor of Bithynia, a turbulent frontier province rotting with corruption and seething with hatred of Rome. When a high Roman official is found murdered on a desolate hillside miles from the capital, Pliny must untangle numerous threads in the investigation, including a barbarian god whose devotees may include a murderer, a clever and unscrupulous faith healer who knows everyones secrets, and a boy who struggles toward manhood though stricken with the sacred disease. But as Pliny pursues one baffling lead after another, he is being betrayed where he least expects it. His beautiful wife, neglected and lonely in an alien city, falls desperately in love with a handsome young provincial, and the affair threatens to bring not only pain but ruin to Plinys career.

About Bruce Macbain

Bruce Macbain holds a master’s degree in classical studies from the University of Chicago and a doctorate in ancient history from the University of Pennsylvania. He has taught Greek and Roman history at Vanderbilt and Boston University. He enjoys traveling and was one of the first Peace Corps volunteers to serve in Borneo. He lives with his wife in Brookline, Massachusetts.


Reviews

Enjoyed this as much as the previous one. The book entertains in the manner of Saylor and Maddox Roberts. Some annoying (but expected) Calpurnia scenes. Excited to read MacBain's third.......more

Goodreads review by Mary

Pliny the Younger, now more than ten years older than the vice-prefect of Machain's first novel, Roman Games, arrives in the Roman province of Bithynia-Pontus with a directive from the emperor Trajan to essentially clean house. Rampant corruption has left the country in ruins. Partially constructed......more

Goodreads review by Liz

I've been looking forward to this second Pliny the Younger mystery, and it does not disappoint. Pliny has been appointed Governor of the Roman province of Bithynia, entrusted by the Emperor with the task of cleaning up corruption, of which there is plenty. When an important Roman official is murdere......more