The first action-packed historical adventure in the internationally acclaimed Captain Alatriste series, featuring a Spanish soldier who lives as a swordsman-for-hire in 17th century Madrid. Needing gold to pay off his debts, Captain Alatriste and another hired blade are paid to ambush two travelers, stage a robbery, and give the travelers a fright. “No blood,” they are told. Then a mysterious stranger enters to clarify the job: he increases the pay, and tells Alatriste that, instead, he must murder the two travelers. When the attack unfolds, Alatriste realizes that these aren’t ordinary travelers, and what happens next is only the first in a riveting series of twists and turns, with implications that will reverberate throughout the courts of Europe...
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Stereotypical adventure novel where the main character is typical aging battle hardened superstar. This is one of those books you get the feeling of already having read dozens of. There are some historical characters but none of them, nor the fictional ones have much depth on them.
BUT I might still continue the series just to see are there any surprises at all in the plot. Plus, this is of course a good snack after some brainworm like Dostoyevsky.
