About the Author

First published anonymously in Italy, and crafted by four young writers under the pseudonym LUTHER BLISSETT, Q has become a cult bestseller across Europe

Reviews

PRAISE FOR Q
"Imagine Umberto Eco's knack for the swashbuckling thriller of ideas crossed with an artful touch of the Le Carr�s, and you have a fair idea of the novel's mood. . . . As a historical blockbuster, it boasts pace, colour, excitement and suspense to spare. . . .Q works like a charm." --THE INDEPENDENT (LONDON) "This is a big book and a big canvas. . . .The panorama is big and bloody and breathtaking: a crush of colour and crowds, exotic locations and war.The sheer weight of its authors' historical research provides a convincing backdrop for the fictional heroes."
--THE TIMES (LONDON) "An extraordinary historical adventure of faith and rebellion, thirty years of fleeing, intrigues, and slaughters in the first half of the 16th century in the Saxony of the Iron Knights, and in the Rome of the Popes." --LA REPUBBLICA ( I TALY )
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Rich religious history is turned into bloated, tedious fiction in this Reformation-age epic produced by four anonymous writers lurking behind a pseudonym. In 1517, Martin Luther nails his 95 theses to the door of Wittenburg Cathedral. In 1525, a one-time theological student, a radical Anabaptist who goes under a number of names over the course of the narrative, but who is initially called Gustav Metzger, pulls off the first of a number of hairbreadth escapes from heretic hunters keen to spill the blood of any would-be supporter of Luther. For the next 30 years, even as Protestantism slowly makes inroads across Europe, Metzger is tracked by a papal spy who, traveling incognito under the eponymous moniker Q, keeps his boss apprised while he and his compatriots attempt to crush the movement on behalf of the Vatican before the schism widens. Needless to say, they fail. Translator Whiteside has done the best he could with the material: stripped-down chapters breathlessly composed of short, snappy paragraphs ("The girl smiles. She's extremely beautiful") alternate with epistolary passages given a faux-historical gloss. Speech anachronisms abound throughout, especially when events are related by Metzger and company ("`What the fuck did you say? What? So you're not dead, but you scare me anyway, pal, you scare me'"), and most of the characters sound so alike that not only do they remain lifeless on the page, they are often indistinguishable from one another. A good amount of historical research is lumped throughout, but the period stylings are wooden and the story never gains enough momentum to carry readers along. (May 4) Forecast: This was a cult hit in Europe, but will face a struggle in the U.S., despite a striking jacket and enticing doorstop heft. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

PRAISE FOR Q
"Imagine Umberto Eco's knack for the swashbuckling thriller of ideas crossed with an artful touch of the Le Carres, and you have a fair idea of the novel's mood. . . . As a historical blockbuster, it boasts pace, colour, excitement and suspense to spare. . . .Q works like a charm." --THE INDEPENDENT (LONDON) "This is a big book and a big canvas. . . .The panorama is big and bloody and breathtaking: a crush of colour and crowds, exotic locations and war.The sheer weight of its authors' historical research provides a convincing backdrop for the fictional heroes."
--THE TIMES (LONDON) "An extraordinary historical adventure of faith and rebellion, thirty years of fleeing, intrigues, and slaughters in the first half of the 16th century in the Saxony of the Iron Knights, and in the Rome of the Popes." --LA REPUBBLICA ( I TALY )
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