Act of Oblivion: A Novel

by Robert Harris Narrated by Tim McInnerny

Overview

""A galloping adventure.” -*The Wall Street Journal

From the bestselling author of Fatherland, The Ghostwriter, Munich, and Conclave comes this spellbinding historical novel that brilliantly imagines one of the greatest manhunts in history: the search for two Englishmen involved in the killing of King Charles I and the implacable foe on their trail-an epic journey into the wilds of seventeeth-century New England, and a chase like no other.

'From what is it they flee?'

He took a while to reply. By the time he spoke the men had gone inside. He said quietly, “They killed the King.”

1660 England. General Edward Whalley and his son-in law Colonel William Goffe board a ship bound for the New World. They are on the run, wanted for the murder of King Charles I-a brazen execution that marked the culmination of the English Civil War, in which parliamentarians successfully battled royalists for control.

But now, ten years after Charles' beheading, the royalists have returned to power. Under the provisions of the Act of Oblivion, the fifty-nine men who signed the king's death warrant and participated in his execution have been found guilty in absentia of high treason. Some of the Roundheads, including Oliver Cromwell, are already dead. Others have been captured, hung, drawn, and quartered. A few are imprisoned for life. But two have escaped to America by boat.

In London, Richard Nayler, secretary of the regicide committee of the Privy Council, is charged with bringing the traitors to justice and he will stop at nothing to find them. A substantial bounty hangs over their heads for their capture-dead or alive. . . .

Robert Harris's first historical novel set predominantly in America, Act of Oblivion is a novel with an urgent narrative, remarkable characters, and an epic true story to tell of religion, vengeance, and power-and the costs to those who wield it.*

Editorial Reviews

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Tim McInnerny narrates this remarkable historical novel with solid credibility. He chronicles the extraordinary-but-true manhunt for two signatories of the death warrant for King Charles I. In an English accent, he describes the dangerous journey of the regicides, Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Will Goffe. This is an exciting story, as well as one that is largely accurate. McInnerny makes the duo’s tribulations, religiosity, and longing for home and family very real and comprehensible. This is a thrilling look at a time, place, and people caught up in political intrigue in the wilderness of colonial New England. McInnerny's vocal prowess and excellent characterizations make this a top-notch listening experience. D.L.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

07/25/2022

Harris (Munich) again turns a historical event into a canny page-turner. Following the restoration of the Stuart Dynasty to the throne of England, King Charles II and his court seek revenge for the execution of the monarch’s father, Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649. The task of identifying and locating those involved falls to Richard Nayler, “one of those shadows who move, anonymous, along the private passages and through the council chambers of every nation in every age.” Nayler has a personal grudge against his quarry; his wife died giving birth to their stillborn son after Cromwell’s soldiers arrested him for participating in an illegal prayer service. After Nayler tracks down the death warrant ordering Charles I’s beheading, he devotes himself to finding the 13 signatories still at large. The bulk of the narrative focuses on his Javert-like search for Edward Whalley and his son-in-law William Goffe. The fugitives live desperate lives in New England, constantly fearful of betrayal even from those who shelter them. Harris humanizes the hunter and the hunted, and brings to life an obscure chapter in colonial American history. This further burnishes Harris’s reputation as a talented author of historical suspense. Agent: Suzanne Gluck, WME Entertainment. (Sept.)

From the Publisher

"Act of Oblivion delivers a galloping adventure, with a novel of ideas craftily packed into its saddlebags.” — The Wall Street Journal

“Harris delivers a gripping, well-paced tale rich in color, suspense and adventure.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune

“Robert Harris brings his signature storytelling power to an exciting manhunt through colonial America. Act of Oblivion pulls off historical fiction's greatest challenge, transporting readers into the heart of a formative era with momentum and suspense. A twisty labyrinth of espionage and intrigue.” — Matthew Pearl, New York Times bestselling author of The Dante Club and The Taking of Jemima Boone

“Robert Harris is, simply put, masterful.” — Karin Slaughter, New York Times and international bestselling author

“Harris (Munich) again turns a historical event into a canny page-turner. . . . Harris humanizes the hunter and the hunted, and brings to life an obscure chapter in colonial American history. This further burnishes Harris’s reputation as a talented author of historical suspense.” — Publishers Weekly

“You could read this as a pure thriller, and it is one of Harris’s most compellingly placed to date. You could read it as a piece of intelligent historical immersion. I think it is more; I think it is his best since Fatherland.” — Sunday Times

"Act of Oblivion is a belter of a thriller. It will be compulsive reading for those who loved An Officer and a Spy, Harris’s book about the Dreyfus affair. Like that novel, the research is immaculate. A chewy, morally murky slice of history is made into a thriller that twists and surprises. The characters are strong and we care about their predicament. The story stretches over continents and years, but the suspense feels as taut as if the three main characters were locked in a room with a gun." — The Times UK

“Gripping . . . Thoroughly enjoyable. . . . [This] deeply researched story is the author's brilliant reimagining of real historical events, with sympathetic characters and a compelling plot.” — Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“It will come as no surprise to readers familiar with Harris’ work that this is a splendidly written historical novel. Harris really is a joy to read. . . . Another top-flight effort from a master storyteller.” — Booklist

“Harris demonstrates his talent for bringing history to life with a taut new tale of faith and vengeance. . . . The raw emotions of the characters and the issues that drive human dissent make this a worthwhile read.” — Library Journal

“Fast-paced . . . . Wonderfully detailed . . . . Clever.” — New York Times Book Review

“A tale that grips from start to finish. It’s a remarkable achievement.” — Metro

"A gripping revenger's tale. . . . This is by far Harris’s best book since An Officer and a Spy, which dealt with another great national division: the Dreyfus case. He has produced a ripping page-turner that breathes all the complexities and moral nuances of the Civil War period." — Financial Times

"It is easy to forget that Act of Oblivion is a fictional work based on actual events, which is a testament to Robert Harris’ writing. The book provides not only significant amounts of European history, but also thrilling suspense over Nayler’s pursuit of his final two targets . . . . Learning European history was never this much fun in school!" — Bookreporter

"Veteran actor Tim McInnerny delivers a masterly narration of Harris’s novel. He truly inhabits the characters, his voice and manner finely tuned to the personality and convictions of each: Goffe, a fanatical, millenarian Puritan; Whalley, more practical and ultimately disillusioned; Nayler, smoothly menacing, but prey to depression . . . this production is perfect." — Washington Post

"[Robert Harris is] writing fiction, but he treats the few available facts and the more plausible theories with respect, and skillfully extrapolates from them. . . . Harris underpins [Act of Oblivion] with substantial research and writes in unobtrusively effective prose. . . . This is Harris at his best, which is very good indeed." — The Guardian

"If you like your page-turning popular fiction at the more intelligent end of the spectrum, you could not do better than this." — The Telegraph

"Three cheers for Robert Harris, an author who can always be relied upon to serve up novels that perfectly balance intellectual heft with pulse-raising entertainment." — The Daily Mail

"A riotously enjoyable and thoroughly modern manhunt. . . . Act of Oblivion is a book rich in the illuminating details that bring the past to life. . . . There’s a delicious sense of being in the hands of a master, of watching as the pieces of the narrative puzzle fall into place. Act of Oblivion is a fine novel." — The Observer

 "Act Of Oblivion . . . marries painstaking research with vivid historical recreation and leaps of imagination." — Daily Express

"Robert Harris’ novels are known as page turners, and Act of Oblivion takes this signature feature to the next kinetic level. . . . Aside from the fast-paced prose, a feature of Harris’ novels is thorough historical research. Act of Oblivion is no exception. . . . There are many electrifying scenes in this fast and furious historical thriller that keeps the reader in suspense until the last page." — Sydney Morning Herald

“Harris’s new chase thriller is a tour de force.” — i

“I admire Robert [Harris] boundlessly for his originality as well as superb narrative skill.” — Max Hastings, author of Inferno

“Robert Harris never fails to dazzle me . . . . his research is superb, his characters intrinsically interesting and his writing crisp and elegant. . . . Describing this book as a chase is to do it an injustice. It has elements of social history as well as being a truly moving family tale. . . . You can read Harris as a mystery author or a fine historian with equal pleasure or you can just read him for the sheer joy of it, as I do. This will definitely be one of my best books of the year." — The Globe and Mail

“Harris, deft as ever, weaves a hefty amount of historical fact into the narrative—politics, religion, colonial life, family ties—as well as themes of forgiveness and reconciliation.” — New Statesman

“Act of Oblivion is more than just a page-turner. . . . Harris’s denouement goes for theatrical effect and down-to-the-wire suspense.” — London Review of Books

“Harris skilfully weaves pieces of his characters’ pasts giving the story depth and credibility. His research is comprehensive. . . . Act of Oblivion is a clever novel, building slowly and showing more than the hunt for two fugitives.” — Sunday Times (South Africa)

“Robert Harris is the master of the high-quality historical thriller. History is not simply a backdrop in his novels, but an interlocutor with our own age. . . . Harris displays an impressive grasp of the historical context without taxing his readers by showing his ‘workings.’” — Church Times

“There is satisfaction in the well-made novel, and Robert Harris’s Act of Oblivion. . . [is one of the] best-made and therefore most enjoyable new novels I read this year.” — The Scotsman

"A lightning-quick thriller, the tension cranked right up throughout, and Harris' 17th century New England is so real you can almost smell it." — Tim Weaver, author of Blackbird

"The master of the intelligent thriller." — Daily Telegraph

"Harris is a master of historical fiction, a compelling author who brings to life the recent and ancient past." — Times Literary Supplement

"A tale that grips from start to finish. It's a remarkable achievement." — Metro

"Master storyteller Robert Harris has forged history anew, melding fact and fiction." — RTé

"Harris spins an exciting tale which I hope will leave you hungry for more." — Inside History Magazine

"Lucid and full of suspense." — Spectator

"In his new thriller, Robert Harris wrests [a] fascinating period back from its unjust oblivion, showing how closely its complex landscape of constitutional crises and Puritan politics played out in new unregulated media resonates with us today." — The Critic?

"A drama so involving and nerve-wracking, you can barely turn the pages fast enough. Historic!"  — Saga Magazine

"What Harris does here is nothing short of masterful." — Irish Times

"Pacy and tense, and the pungently evoked past offers up some shrewd present-day parallels." — Mail on Sunday

Library Journal

09/01/2022

Harris (V2: A Novel of World War II) demonstrates his talent for bringing history to life with a taut new tale of faith and vengeance. King Charles I of England was the center of a realm divided on religious ideology. His suspension of Parliament set in motion a series of events leading to his execution as a traitor to the nation. Oliver Cromwell was the force behind a new republican England, and after the king's death, he ruthlessly dealt with those still loyal to the crown. In 1660, 11 years after Charles I's execution, his son Charles Stuart is restored to the throne and the men responsible for the regicide are now wanted men. Leading the manhunt is Richard Nayler, an agent of the Privy Council—a man who has his own reasons for capturing two of the hunted, men he holds responsible for the deaths of his wife and unborn child. Nayler is a bloodhound, tracking the fugitives to the new American colonies, where the conflict that began in London spills onto fresh soil. VERDICT Harris's story bogs down in places with dense detail, but the raw emotions of the characters and the issues that drive human dissent make this a worthwhile read.—Julie Ciccarelli

NOVEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Tim McInnerny narrates this remarkable historical novel with solid credibility. He chronicles the extraordinary-but-true manhunt for two signatories of the death warrant for King Charles I. In an English accent, he describes the dangerous journey of the regicides, Edward Whalley and his son-in-law, Will Goffe. This is an exciting story, as well as one that is largely accurate. McInnerny makes the duo’s tribulations, religiosity, and longing for home and family very real and comprehensible. This is a thrilling look at a time, place, and people caught up in political intrigue in the wilderness of colonial New England. McInnerny's vocal prowess and excellent characterizations make this a top-notch listening experience. D.L.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2022-08-06
This gripping historical thriller reimagines the manhunt of two killers of an English king.

In 1660, two fugitives arrive in New England. Years earlier, they had helped plot the trial and execution of King Charles I on charges of high treason. Oliver Cromwell had subsequently taken power as Lord Protector, but now he and most of the regicides have been tracked down and executed, and a new king is on the throne. The remaining fugitives are Col. Edward Whalley and his son-in-law Col. William Goffe, and Richard Nayler’s job is to hunt them down. Nayler, says the author, is the only important fictional character in the book, and his obsession with the hunt drives the story. This is an era when all misfortune is put down to God's will, and folks clearly believe in a vengeful creator. England suffers plague, war with the Dutch, famine, and a horrible fire in London almost contemporaneously—surely they are the four horsemen foretold in the book of Revelation. Condemned prisoners who are lucky are merely beheaded—the unlucky are subjected to deaths so ghastly that it takes 11 lines to describe. Think red-hot tongs. And if you think escaping to America is easy, remember that red worms infest the ship’s biscuits—and just try to ignore the slop and slime and stink you'll be slipping and sliding in. Nayler is relentless in tracking down the traitors to his beloved king—are they still in England? In France? In New England? He is clever in finding clues that finally point him in the right direction. Meanwhile, Whalley and Goffe are separated from their families across the ocean. Will they ever be able to see them again? Or will Nayler find both men and kill them? The deeply researched story is the author's brilliant reimagining of real historical events, with sympathetic characters and a compelling plot.

Thoroughly enjoyable with some cringeworthy descriptions. Readers will not pine for days of yore.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178662342
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	09/13/2022
Edition description:	Unabridged

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