Audiobook6 hours
The Henchmen of Zenda
Written by KJ Charles
Narrated by Antony Ferguson
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
()
About this audiobook
Jasper Detchard is a disgraced British officer, now selling his blade to the highest bidder. Currently that's Michael Elphberg, half-brother to the King of Ruritania. Michael wants the throne for himself, and Jasper is one of the scoundrels he hires to help him take it. But when Michael makes his move, things don't go entirely to plan-and the penalty for treason is death.
Rupert of Hentzau is Michael's newest addition to his sinister band of henchmen. Charming, lethal, and intolerably handsome, Rupert is out for his own ends-which seem to include getting Jasper into bed. But Jasper needs to work out what Rupert's really up to amid a maelstrom of plots, swordfights, scheming, impersonation, desire, betrayal, and murder.
Nobody can be trusted. Everyone has a secret. And love is the worst mistake you can make.
Contains mature themes.
Rupert of Hentzau is Michael's newest addition to his sinister band of henchmen. Charming, lethal, and intolerably handsome, Rupert is out for his own ends-which seem to include getting Jasper into bed. But Jasper needs to work out what Rupert's really up to amid a maelstrom of plots, swordfights, scheming, impersonation, desire, betrayal, and murder.
Nobody can be trusted. Everyone has a secret. And love is the worst mistake you can make.
Contains mature themes.
Author
KJ Charles
KJ Charles is a writer and editor. She lives in London with her husband, two kids, a garden with quite enough prickly things, and a cat with murder management issues. Find her on Twitter @kj_charles for daily timewasting and the odd rant, or in her Facebook group, KJ Charles Chat, for sneak peeks and special extras.
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Reviews for The Henchmen of Zenda
Rating: 4.162500054166666 out of 5 stars
4/5
120 ratings7 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5It wasnt as good as other KJ Charles's books, but it was pleasant enough. I expected more scandal, more betrayal, more lies. But, et least i'm not emotionally totally broken :D
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I’m unsure why I waited so long to read this. Classic KJ but maybe less betrayal (at least between MCs). Very fun and enjoyable!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Utterly entertaining and definitely a read should not be miss.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Quite a bit of intrigue and adventure. I didn't feel as engaged as I usually do with Charles, but it was still entertaining.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Loved it. An excellent and infinitely more entertaining (and also more believable!) telling of the events in The Prisoner of Zenda.
If you haven't read the original work yet, I strongly suggest you do so before starting this one. - Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5An enjoyable piece of froth, essentially slash fanfiction based on The Prisoner of Zenda, but told with Charles's typical style and panache. Events from Anthony Hope's classic swashbuckling novel are retold from the point of view of Jasper Detchard, sword-for-hire and disgraced Englishman, who enters the service of 'Black Michael', the Duke of Strelsau in Ruritania. Here he finds himself at the heart of the struggle for the crown between Michael and his red-headed half-brother Rudolf, which is taken in an unexpected direction by the arrival of a remarkable stranger. Given the complexity of the plot, I'd stress the importance of having have read Hope's original if you want to get all the jokes - and also understand the significance of Charles's plotting, because Henchmen is far from a mere shift of narrator. Instead, Charles presents a very different take on events: Rudolf V of Ruritania is not a displaced hero, but a louche drunkard with unpleasant habits; Princess Flavia is far more active in the succession crisis than anyone would give her credit for; and Detchard has been attracted not by Black Michael's money but by an obligation to an old friend. At the heart of the story, predictably for Charles (and no doubt welcomed by her legions of fans) is the increasing sexual tension between Detchard and the effusive, dashing young scoundrel Rupert of Hentzau. Rupert was my favourite character in the original story, so reading this required a certain mental shift - but Charles is evidently as fond of him as I am. Preserving much of the brio of the original, Henchmen is an affectionate tribute to (and take-down of?) an adventure classic. I'll confess that I didn't love it quite as much as the other reviewers did - at the end of the day, it *is* fanfiction and so it's much more derivative than Charles's other brilliant books - but it's fun, fluffy and full of derring-do. I'll never be able to look at Rupert of Hentzau in quite the same way again, though...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Retelling of The Prisoner of Zenda from the POV of one of the bad guys, who’s actually not so bad but helping the usurper half-brother in order to repay a debt of honor to said usurper’s (at this point unwilling) mistress. He falls in lust, then in love, with another of the henchmen, and they plot to save themselves and the lady; it’s elaborate enough to match the original source. I enjoyed it.