RECOMMENDED by the US Review

"Julius Caesar was dead."

In this gripping work of historical fiction, readers meet a cast of classical characters, including Marcus Antonius, Gaius Octavius, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and many others whose names history’s annals have preserved. Readers enter the chaotic social and political worlds that developed after Julius Caesar was brutally stabbed to death. The novel focuses on Gaius Octavius, whose imperial cult forever reshaped history. Interwoven with Octavius’ dreams of glory, wealth, and power is the story of Marcus Antonius and his love affair with Cleopatra. As the novel unfolds, readers become even more immersed in the treachery, brutality, and deception that formed some of Ancient Rome’s most unforgettable—and most scandalous—stories.

The author's book tells the story of one man willing to risk everything in order to rise to power and shift an old world order into a new age of conquest. Each chapter focuses on a different character’s experience. This structure helps the novel ebb and flow back and forth between the novel’s events. This structure heightens the drama that each character not only brings to the story but also experiences. The ebb and flow of events and characters also helps each character’s story and voice stand independently from the others despite the dangerous, entangled web in which the characters thrive. Readers who are particularly interested in Ancient Rome will appreciate this book for its new, reimagined history of the ruthless Octavius, who founded the Roman Empire. Those who enjoy historical fiction may like this book’s focus on a historical period that is quickly being forgotten and overlooked in both literature and society.

CLICK HERE to see the review on the US Review of Books.