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    The Devil's Company
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    The Devil's Company
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    The Devil's Company
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Devil's Company

    Written by David Liss

    Narrated by Simon Vance

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the acclaimed author of The Whiskey Rebels and A Conspiracy of Paper comes a superb historical thriller set in the splendor and squalor of eighteenth-century London. In Benjamin Weaver, David Liss has created one of fiction's most enthralling characters.
    The year is 1722. Ruffian for hire, ex-boxer, and master of disguise, Weaver finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, pitted against Jerome Cobb, a wealthy and mysterious schemer who needs Weaver's strength and guile for his own treacherous plans.
    Weaver is blackmailed into stealing documents from England's most heavily guarded estate, the headquarters of the ruthless British East India Company, but the theft of corporate secrets is only the first move in a daring conspiracy within the eighteenth century's most powerful corporation. To save his friends and family from Cobb's reach, Weaver must infiltrate the Company, navigate its warring factions, and uncover a secret plot of corporate rivals, foreign spies, and government operatives. With the security of the nation at stake, Weaver will find himself in a labyrinth of hidden agendas, daring enemies, and unexpected allies.
    With the explosive action and scrupulous period research that are David Liss's trademarks, The Devil's Company, depicting the birth of the modern corporation, is the most impressive achievement yet from an author who continues to set ever higher standards for historical suspense.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJul 7, 2009
    ISBN9781423327073
    Unavailable
    The Devil's Company
    Author

    David Liss

    David Liss is a proud science fiction geek. When not acting like a total fanboy, he’s generally working on his books, stories, and comics. Liss has written eight bestselling novels for adults, most recently The Day of Atonement, and is the author of numerous comics, including Mystery Men, Sherlock Holmes: Moriarty Lives, and Angelica Tomorrow. He lives in San Antonio, Texas.

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    Reviews for The Devil's Company

    4/5

    208 ratings32 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Another great addition to the Benjamin Weaver series. The Devil's Company is fast paced yet full of historical detail. The twists just keep coming, yet it all ties together neatly at the end.
    • 2/5
      The setting is fantastic, the story not.
    • 4/5
      I don't typically read mysteries or fiction that takes place in previous centuries (I'm generally a CIA and techno-thriller fiction reader), but I really enjoyed this book! David Liss has an incredible grasp of language that really sells the idea that the story takes place in the early 1720s in England (the first person narrative helps). (I also read a LOT about the American Revolution so I feel like I have some authority on the language here given the way in which our Founders wrote.)
    • 4/5
      Another great addition to the Benjamin Weaver series. The Devil's Company is fast paced yet full of historical detail. The twists just keep coming, yet it all ties together neatly at the end.
    • 5/5
      The continuing exploits of Benjamin Weaver. The story takes place in the London of 1722 and trade is dominated by the powerful East India Company. Weaver is skillfully drawn into a plot from which he is unable to escape which involves corruption of the worst sort.I will not attempt to tell the story,which no doubt has been done many times already,but will only urge you to read it,for if you do,it will be well worth the effort. On my part,I can state that it is one of the most interesting and thrilling reads this year.
    • 4/5
      Lots of cloak and dagger intrigue, strong plot, great characters, excellent timing and settings. Ben Weaver is a wonderfully clever, caring and strong hero. Enjoyable read.
    • 4/5
      Great book! David Liss has a way of making me feel like I'm directly involved in the story and that I'm actually there. His plots are so complex while still being immensely intriguing that I thoroughly enjoy seeing how the mystery is unraveled. I found two small bits pretty obvious with this book so I'm giving it 4 1/2 stars.
    • 4/5
      This was the first novel I have read by the author but will not be my last. I found the novel quite entertaining and enjoyed spending time in Liss' world. I love a good historical thriller and this was no exception. It made for an enjoyable read. I hadn't realized this was a series book going in, but I had no problem following along.
    • 3/5
      18th-Century industrial spies. Entertaining, but not very memorable.
    • 4/5
      Entertaining page turner with mostly plausible twists.
    • 4/5
      Well written mystery about the British East India Company and its monopoly on silk and the silk trade. Lots of convoluted plot twists, not all of which are successful, but vastly entertaining. Characters include a bigamist (or octomist +), a French spy/Jewish immigrant/British agent, and our hero--an ex-boxer with a streak of cruelty and a streak of Robin Hood. The only annoying thing was the author's tendency to be politically correct (gay rights, women's rights) and to insert 20th century phrasing into working conditions into his character's mouths. Still, well worth reading--and a book of exceptionally interesting vocabulary.
    • 4/5
      Liss is a strong period writer. I have followed main character Benjamin Weaver from Conspiracy of Paper and Spectacle of Coruption to Devil's Company. Liss's writing syle, pros, and good plot development transport you to Georgian England. To me this is good sign of a terrific story and writing.
    • 4/5
      David Liss is fairly prolific, and I've read each of his books as they've come out, more or less on the strength of A Conspiracy of Paper. While none of the subsequent books have been poor reads, neither have they risen to the level of his debut, until now. Ben Weaver, the protagonist of the first novel, is back, but the quality of The Devil's Company has more to do with the tightness and intricacy of the storyline, as well as with his use of period (fall 1722, not just 18th century England) detail without going so overboard with it as to distract. I'm glad to see Liss back on top of his game.
    • 4/5
      The Devil’s Company is the third in David Liss’ Benjamin Weaver series. Weaver is a thief-take and former boxer of some repute in 18th century London. In this installment, which was my first, we find Weaver at a loss when he discovers himself in a great deal of debt to one of his customers. Not only did this customer, one Mr. Cobb, purposefully create this scenario to keep Weaver in his debt, he bought up the debts of Weaver’s beloved uncle, good friend, and acquaintance. While Weaver did nothing to create this situation, he feels morally responsible for the detrimental financial impact this situation has caused. He is forced, then, to accept an assignment he had previously turned down – to break into the highly guarded offices of the East India Company and steal documentation for an upcoming meeting. Unfortunately, this isn’t the last of what Mr. Cobb requires and he keeps Weaver in the dark on his ultimate purposes. In order to free himself and his friends and loved ones from Mr. Cobb’s grip, Weaver has to fight to keep Mr. Cobb happy while working behind the scenes to discover what he really wants and seek his revenge.This novel was a breath of fresh air for me for this period of London’s history. Other novels set in this same time and place, most recently The Brothers Boswell, have been dry and quite slow. Liss’ story is not only fast paced and continually interesting, but the dialog, most specifically the banter between Weaver and his good friend, Elias, made this novel so enjoyable. The style of speech and the relative formality of personal interactions felt authentic to the time period, but I had no difficulty putting myself in the same room or following along with the characters as they walked down the road. While I can’t say that I would have wanted to live during that time, I feel as though I visited there.The Devil’s Company is more than just a mystery with a scrappy hero. It delves into the connections between big business and governmental power. While the East India Company is a huge giant carrying a big stick doing what it can to keep its market share and put down any type of government interference, this novel discussed the relationship between a governments need for power and security and the wealth and stability of big multi-national companies. It is interesting to think that you can bring down a world power by attacking its wealthiest private companies. If those companies in turn treat the people as disposable waste, where should you hold your loyalty?Having never read any of David Liss’ previous work, I wasn’t sure what to expect. He is a talented writer who has created memorable and, most importantly, realistic characters. I previously bought a copy of his novel The Coffee Trader as it takes place in Amsterdam. I am eager to read it now because of the author. I also want to read A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption, the first two novels in this series Benjamin Weaver is such a great character I want to read his complete back story. With The Devil's Company, I have found a new historical novelist that I love to explore. What a gem is that?
    • 4/5
      When you sit down with one of David Liss's books you don't just settle in to read....you immerse yourself into another time and place. At least, that is how I feel every time I pick one up. This time he returns to 18th century London with his hero Benjamin Weaver. Weaver is being blackmailed into providing services for some mysterious folk and the story just gets more complicated as you read. Liss loads this book with the sounds, scents, politics, people and slang language of the time period to provide a genuine feel for this century.It is a plot with lots of red herrings and twists and turns and also more accessible than his previous book, The Whiskey Rebels. A good read.
    • 3/5
      The Devil's Company is the third in a series of novels around a former pugilist turned adventuring sleuth, set against the dark and imposing backdrop of 18th century London. This time Benjamin Weaver has fallen prey to the hands of the mysterious Mr. Cobb. Bound to this master blackmailer, Ben Weaver finds himself fighting for his own as well as his friends' lives. At the center of the mystery is yet again the fledgling stock market, of which Mr. Liss writes often in this series. Rapidly Weaver finds himself caught in a complex web of international thievery and spies.After I read The Whiskey Rebels, a wonderful novel of the beginnings of the American economy, I noticed a drastic increase in writing quality. Sadly however this next novel is quite a decline from that standard. Most of the events are predictable and contrived. The reader can easily assume what will happen next and does not feel on the heels of adventure but quite ahead of the game. The Devil's Company is filled with large plot holes, chapters that add no value to the book and characters that are not even described in any detail at all. Most disturbing is the fact that the protagonist is consistently portrayed as an idiot who has more luck than brains. Stranger still is the notion that at the very end of the novel all of this is apparently turned around and we are to believe Ben Weaver was the cleverest one after all. Throughout reading the novel, which I will admit was great fun, I had the impression that Mr. Liss was told to not focus on the mechanics and details of the stock market, but instead focus on the action and adventure. If this is so I hope the next novel will change that back.
    • 3/5
      Ostensibly an 18th-century English spy mystery, but really a morality tale decrying the greed and corruption of the corporation. Being of the money-grubbing, pro-business persuasion, I was naturally disgusted.
    • 5/5
      Great book about the machinations of the British East India Company in 1720's England. Benjamin Weaver returns as Liss's protagonist and is blackmailed into doing nefarious deeds against the company. I had not read the other Weaver books but am definitely going to since I read this one. For those readers who loved The Coffee Trader, the Weaver series is connected to that book also. Liss's plotting is like a turn of the screw. Each turn of the plot makes the book all the greater and by the end all the threads of the plot end perfeclty. My only quibble with this book is that not much is made of Weaver being a Jew, or even a non-practicing Jew, however, in Benjamin Weaver, we see the Jewish stereotype destroyed.And to David Liss, thanks for signing the book, can't wait for the next one.
    • 4/5
      Third entry in the Benjamin Weaver series. Mr. Liss weaves again an historical tapestry of espionage and intrigue in 18th century London. Moves along nicely and keeps you reading until the end. Kudos for the historical details and atmosphere.
    • 4/5
      I am a huge Benjamin Weaver fan, but I did find this book tough going at first. But once I got into it I found the action moved ahead very quickly, and it started to grab my interest. In this book Weaver and his wonderful friend Elias take on the East India Company, and such a group of villains there is! Weaver is blackmailed into stealing documents from the Company (as the East India Company is referred to throughout the book). But Weaver finds out there is lots more to this scheme than just than and when his friends and family are drawn into the scheme in order to make Weaver comply he gets very angry indeed. This book depicts the birth of the modern corporation and the greed and omnipotence that he finds there is very typical of what happens in the corporate world today, even though this book is set in 1722. Liss is a master at historical suspense and this book is no exception. Weaver is a wonderful creation, and I can't wait to read more about his exploits and the secretive world that he inhabits.
    • 4/5
      Ben Weaver as spy more than theiftaker this time out. Because Weaver isn’t adept at spycraft, we don’t get a lot of it which would have been fun, but completely inappropriate. Good story (albeit sometimes oversimplified) with plenty of suspects, allies and villains. Support from Elias and Uncle Miguel. Only a brief appearance of Miriam, thankfully. I think Weaver is finally over her. Am intrigued by Celia Glade and hope we see her again even though she is a source of tension between Ben and Elias.The beginning of the novel almost made me want to put it aside though. Emotional blackmail is never a good technique to keep me interested. I felt that the description of Ben’s own manipulation into action was used to the same purpose towards me as a reader. It was very uncomfortable for me and I suppose effective at creating empathy for Weaver, but I still didn’t like it.I also felt that our hero was less capable in this outing. His wherewithal seems to have vanished. During the whole course of events he never gets the best of his enemies (even momentarily) and it let the wind out of the sails of emotional payoff for me. He makes some attempts to go around his tormenters and find out the truth, but it never seems to get anywhere and in the end, when he does get to switch some documents, it seems perfunctory and without import. Neither the recipient of the windfall nor the entity deprived of it is aware of exactly what has happened and that certainly makes Weaver’s actions seem trivial. There is a lot of social commentary, most of it as descriptive detail or minor plot points and players. The corruptibility of “company men”, the corrupt nature of the company itself, the crime, poverty and filth in the streets, the plight of the working man; all wielded with expertness and made all the more engaging because nothing has really changed in England or, indeed, the world. It seems to be a case for government oversight in commercial business, especially business so closely tied to a country’s overall GNP. But how to protect the individual worker who is a mere wheat grain caught in the mill that is both entities; the company and the government acting in unison to snuff invention for the continuation of the monopoly which is the mainstay of the country’s wealth. The invention itself is more of a MacGuffin than a real plot point however and it is the spirit of invention that is really the star.This was an ARC, however it looked like a finished product and unfortunately I spotted two errors; page 10 the use of deserts when clearly desserts was meant, and on page 73 the writer meant quilts but the word used is quits. Kind of funny that last one, a character being huddled under a pile of quits.
    • 4/5
      Having got this book to review, I had to acquire the previous two books as this is the third and become acquainted with our hero... There is a trend with our hero to not have his life in his own hands. Here more than any other time we see blackmail at the root of his problems. We also see the writer use a device, now all too obvious of not beginning his story at the beginning. In each instance we have a chapter or more where we have to delve back in time by some days or weeks to find where the story begins. We learn of life always through the first person, and perhaps that we have now a series, we will always be limited to this view. Certainly in a mystery, the first person guides us in what facts we know. The character whose eyes we share does not know any more or less than we. We also see London, a rather decrepit London through our heroes eyes. We seem to have come across a London that has gone from tolerable 100 years before when Shakespeare and Elizabeth lived to a nightmarish place. Perhaps a reason we don't have many encounters of early Georgian mysteries.What troubles is that this book is not as strong as the previous two. There economics ruled to such an extant that the complexities while made understandable where sinuous enough that they were hard to unravel. Here, Weaver our hero, once again thrown about by more powerful forces, is clear never to be his own man and by the end of the tale we can see where the author wants to take us. Move over James Bond, your Georgian predecessor is upon the scene.Yes as the tale continues, we see that the author would like us to find a home for his secret agent man... Oh no. Not another one. How many good series get ruined by making everyone work for the Crown? Let us have an honest series, our thieftaker is strong enough to do his work without being mixed up with the affairs of a nation. Now can Liss deliver and find another economic concept as compelling as we had in his first two novels? Or even better, the Coffee Trader which I believe bests this also. Where Liss elevated above others is that he has the ability to grasp an economic plot device and marry it to the times and then weave the plight of the Jew in to the mix. Here, aside from a very few scenes, the need for our hero to even have been a Jew is sadly lacking. He could have been an Irish man.Their is a last quibble also, as what is surely to be his next benefactor/nemesis, the crown, ends up knowing a fact that the three others who know (all from the second book) would not wish to reveal. So read it because you like Liss and the series, but don't look to read this on its own. For that, it is only better than average, not great.
    • 5/5
      This is the second David Liss book that I've received through the ER program, and this one was even better than The Whiskey Rebels. The book is the third in a series which revolve around a Jewish ex-boxer, Benjamin Weaver, who lives in London in the early 18th century. All of the books in the series (and most of Liss' books) involve some of the seamier sides of the financial system in the 18th century, and in this book the focus is the East India Company. The issues tackled in the book from nationalism, protectionism, to government corruption indicate that some things never change. Although this book is the 3rd in a series, reading the first two isn't necessary to enjoy this book, but I do highly recommend reading the first two also, as well as The Coffee Trader.
    • 4/5
      David Liss and Benjamin Weaver are at it again. Coerced into serving a master he distains, Benjamin Weaver finds himself involved in subterfuge, adventure and mayhem. He pits himself agains Mr. Cobb, who is unknown in British circles and who hires him by buying up the debt of Benjamin's friends and threatening to call the debt. He also works for Mr. Ellershaw, a principal of the East India Company. Are these two enterprises at cross purposes?Liss does a wonderful job of describing 18th Century England, and also this prose at not necessarily of that century, they are close enough to give the reader a flavor. While LIss' description of many things financial of the time perplexes me, his books still have a huge appeal and I can't wait until a new one arrives.I highly recommend all of the Benjamin Weaver books, A Conspiracy of Paper and A Spectacle of Corruption, as well as The Coffee Trader, a non-Weaver book.
    • 5/5
      One day while on vacation, I stepped into a local bookstore looking for a bit of literary adventure. I decided I wanted to read some fiction, instead of the usual history I tend to gravitate to. I randomly pulled off the shelf a book called the “Coffee Trader” by David Liss, not knowing a thing about the book or the author. The literary fates smiled upon me that day. I was amazed that a book set in 16th century Amsterdam could be so full on intrigue, suspense and absolutely thrilling to read. After that, I tracked down his other works of historical fiction, “The Conspiracy of Paper” and “The Spectacle of Corruption,” and was introduced to one of the most fascinating heroes in literary fiction, Benjamin Weaver.“The Devil’s Company” the third in the Benjamin Weaver series, is a fantastic book! It follows the exploits of Benjamin Weaver, a private investigator, in London in the fall of 1722. Mr. Weaver is employed to avenge the honor of his client, through a set up in a game of chance. This is but the beginning of a tale so full of malice, intrigue and malevolent cleverness that one worries if Mr. Weaver’s “derring do” will be enough to prevail. Also, I never thought the British East India Company could be such a vipers’ nest of scheming. What transpires there has relevance today and illustrates that corporate perfidy is not a recent development. Mr. Weaver is compelled to go to work for “the Company” by a mysterious cabal. The stakes are incredibly high as Mr. Weaver has to sort through ever shifting facts and alliances, and his Herculean task ensnares the reader to such an extent that one is cautioned to set aside some serious reading time, lest one stay up half the night.Mr. Liss has written a superlative book. He captures the feel and sound of 18th century London. His attention to detail and compelling story telling brings to mind Patrick O’Brian in his “Aubrey/Maturin” series, Jean-Christophe Ruffin in “The Abyssinian,” or Stephen Harridans’ “The Gates of the Alamo.” If you enjoy a good mystery, attention to detail, a thriller, or just revel in a well written entertaining book, then “The Devil’s Company” is the book
    • 4/5
      This is my first David Liss mystery (Thank you, ER and LT!), and I had very high hopes for a well-researched, well-written mystery. I think my hopes were too high because I was a bit disappointed. The mystery is there, and the writing is more than competent. I had, however, hoped to learn about the inner workings of the East India Company in the early eighteenth century, and that didn't happen. I have long enjoyed the mystery writer's ability to immerse his reader in a particular time and place as a side benefit of basic escape reading. While this book offers a feel for 18th century London, the East India Company is no more than a hook to hang a mystery on. In fact, the only pieces of information that I didn't already have were the bits about the Rules of the Fleet and the "mollies." I also want to quibble about the introduction of French spies to the mix. In the earlier half of the book, I felt them to be an intrusion in what was otherwise a clearly-written mix of motives and machinations. By the end their presence was justified, I guess. I'm left with an unsettled feeling that suggests that I was either not paying attention as I read or that the author wrote too quickly and contrived too facilely. Having made my quibbles, I did enjoy the book. Benjamin Weaver and his doctor friend Elias Gordon are two appealing characters; Miss Glade is lovely and enigmatic; and the variety of villains and semi-villains is adequate.
    • 4/5
      This is the third book by Liss that has featured Benjamin Weaver, a retired prize-fighter and now a ‘thief-taker’. The book is set in London during the 1720s and centers around the British East India Company and their bitter struggles with local silk weavers and the ‘wool interest’. Weaver is forced against his will to investigate the inner doings of the Company’s Craven House headquarters. He knows not for whom is working nor does he have a clear picture of what he is looking for. I characterize the book as historical mystery rather than simple historical fiction. Liss does provide some interesting glimpses into early 18th century London, especially the Rules of the Fleet, a law-free area around Fleet Prison where debtors were free from arrest and clandestine marriages took place without banns or license. Liss’s primary focus, however, is the mystery. The first mystery is what is it all about. Who has taken control of Weaver, why and to what end. The book only slowly gives up the answers and takes so many twists and turns along the way that the surprises eventually become tedious. A good surprise or two or three is one thing, but the ploy is overworked. It hardly paid to try to figure things out because as soon as you made some progress, Liss yanks out the proverbial rug. If you really like to solve intricate fluid mysteries and you like historical fiction, this is the book for you.
    • 5/5
      I was fortunate to win an ARC of this book in the Good Reads giveaways.David Liss spins another rolicking tale of murder, blackmail, intrigue, espionage, and phaeton chases. I was caught in the action in the first few pages and could barely put the book down until I was done! Often times I peg the plot in a book like this quite a while before the ending, but this book kept me guessing right up to the end.Thiefcatcher Benjamin Weaver is the Sherlock Holmes of the 1720s. In Liss's latest tale, Mr. Weaver has been put into service against his will and must discover what his employer wants before it is too late for his friends.The 1700s are one of my favorite eras, and I applaud Liss for the effort he puts into making 18th century London come alive. From the squalor of the street urchins to the foppish high-society dandies, David Liss just "gets it right".I was also impressed by Liss's Conspiracy of Paper, he seems to have only gotten better with time.
    • 4/5
      Once again David Liss has put together a well researched historical novel that carries the reader into a tale of well defined characters, twisting mystery, and the feeling that the author is having a great time spinning his tale.Domestic and international intrigue bind this tightly scripted story of a man caught, with friends and family, in the clutches of debt and the manipulators of that debt. and made to serve masters out to destroy British interests in the Indies.Benjamin Weaver, the protagonist, reaches a not completely satisfactory end to his adventure which, in turn, sets up the good possibility for further adventures for the former pugilist. Government service, business dealings, and romance may be in this character's future!
    • 4/5
      The Devil's Company is the latest from David Liss. It's 1722 in London and Benjamin Weaver is being blackmailed. Weaver is equal parts James Bond and Flashman (George Macdonald Fraser's lovable scoundrel). The first sentence of the novel lets you know who you are dealing with: "In my youth, I suffered from too close a proximity to gaming tables of all descriptions, and I watched in horror as Lady Fortune delivered money, sometimes not precisely my own, into another's hands.“The first chapter hooks you very quickly – Liss deftly sketches Benjamin, and the rather interesting situation he’s found himself in. Benjamin is involved in a double (or is it a triple?) cross, at gambling, in disguise: “...for I had dressed myself as a beau of the most foppish sort, and if the nearby revelers took notice of me they saw only a man who wished to be noticed, and who is more invisible than that?”.A very James Bond-like opening sequence – good fun, exciting, and mostly useful to propel you into the novel.Weaver manages to get himself blackmailed into spying on the East India Company, which he finds not-too-distasteful as he thinks little of the Company. In fact although The Devil’s Company is fundamentally an historical adventure/mystery, throughout the novel is there is an interesting undercurrent of philosophizing about the dangers of both big government and big business: “What?” Elias barked. “Give it to the Company? Have you not understood how monstrous it is?” (to find out what “it” is, you’ll have to read the book). “Of course I do, but these companies are born to be monstrous. We cannot ask them to not be what they are. Ellershaw once said that government is not the solution to problems of business, it is the problem of business. In that he was wrong. The company is a monster, and it is for Parliament to decide the size and shape of its cage…”The atmosphere of 18th century London is well rendered, and the period language that Liss employs is quite enjoyable – it consistently adds flavor without being overbearing or hard to parse, as is sometimes the case, with, for example, Patrick O’Brian’s works. The mystery of who precisely is blackmailing Weaver into stealing & spying, and why, unfolds gradually, with many interesting characters making their appearance, and with a variety of plot twists and turns. The Devil’s Company is my first exposure to David Liss (and Benjamin Weaver); The Devil’s Company makes me want to have more. It’s tightly plotted and moves along quickly, and is mildly educational in addition. A great summer read.(Received through the wonderful LibraryThing Early Reviewers Program)