It’s been a while since I read a good gladiator book, except ‘The Left Hand of Calvus’ is that and so much more. It’s intense, suspenseful, has more twists and turns than I was able to keep track of, and it’s full of intrigue, betrayal, and backstabbing. Set in Pompeii around 78 AD (about a year before its destruction), it is the tale of a former gladiator, Saevius, who thinks a powerful politician has hired him as a bodyguard, stopping him from attaining his freedom after years in the area. Saevius faces subterfuge and attempts on his life, the consequences of powerful men’s machinations, and a blossoming romance where he least expected it. It’s a fascinating story that may be set in ancient Europe but shows how little humans have changed in the last two thousand years.

Saevius tells the story, and I was fascinated from the start. He faces challenges both in and outside the arena; in fact the confrontations away from the games are what keep him busy. Yes, there is a lot of training, fighting, and many scenes take place inside the gladiator’s cells and the arena. Since Saevius has been sent to the arena and its cruel master, Drusus, to spy on his fellow gladiators, his life is in danger if they find out. Saevius soon finds himself torn between the master who sent him on this mission and the master who holds power over life and death in the arena – and I didn’t envy him his choice.

Aside from all the political intrigue, Saevius also faces a slowly developing and entirely unexpected romance. It is unusual to say the least, and not at all what I expected – but I can’t say more for fear of spoiling the surprise. It may be quiet and sort of sneaked up on me, but it is one of the most compelling love stories I have ever read. On top of the extremely well-researched setting that contains lots of historical detail, the result makes for formidable reading.

If you like gladiators and their masters, if you want to find out more about a man who sees freedom snatched away from him at the last moment only to find an alternative way to get what he has always wanted, and if you’re looking for an intense, sometimes violent, action-packed, and intriguing read that is cleverly put together and very moving, then you will probably like this novel as much as I do. It’s an excellent story about characters I won’t soon forget.


NOTE: This book was provided by the author for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews. ( )

Whoa. Brilliant.

Read a few reviews and am floored by how many reviewers don't consider this a 'true' romance. It's a quiet book, for sure, and it takes a while to build up steam (though the second half has very good pace and tension IMO), but if this isn't romance, then the romance genre has strayed from the original sense of the word beyond any recognition. For me this is a romance in the most classical sense of the word.