The second outing for Richie o’the Bow, this time on the run in Scotland, escaping the Armstrongs of Liddesdale for killing their chief Nebless Will. Captured by the English he is forced to work as a double-agent, carrying messages to and from the treacherous Earl of Westmoreland. Treads similar moss to the first book, breathing life into brutal time of blood-feuds and betrayal, political intrigue and rebellion. The whole thing has a filmic energy about it.
Reiver by David Pilling
England in 1569 and there’s rebellion in the air. The Catholic earls of the north are plotting to depose the Protestant Queen Elizabeth. Against this backdrop, Richie o’the Bow is caught in a blood-feud with one of the most dangerous riding families on the border, the notorious Armstrongs. Outlawed for killing two of their number, during their raid on his village, Richie and his Bairns do what they must to survive, including killing as many Armstrongs as possible. Tight prose churn through events on the turbulent border of sixteenth-century England and Scotland. A place where theft, murder, revenge, and vendetta are a brutal way of life.
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