A "what-if" novel, most original and enthralling. It posts what might have happened if Nero hadn't committed suicide [with help] and instead had been taken, blinded and imprisoned, with only a young boy as his jailer? One plotline in the later 60s, finds Nero and Marcus, the boy, attempting to find out who did this to him, and another plot in the late 70s with Vespasian's son Titus, trying to find out the why and wherefore of such evil omens as a dog carrying a man's hand into the forum and the disappearance of a senator. During those years there comes from Spain a wealthy blind senator Lucius Ulpius Traianus [Nero in disguise] accompanied by his son, Marcus. Nero's revenge will have to do with Marcus; history will hear more of him in his own right...

A pulse-pounding novel. History has noted three "False Neros". In fact another famous, now somewhat dated, novel has been written about one of them nearly 100 years ago by Lion Feuchtwanger.

Highly recommended. ( )

A remote prison in the scrubland outside Rome, 68 AD. The kind of place that you’re sent when the world wants to forget that you even exist. One afternoon, as young Marcus runs errands at the jail, he sees a new prisoner brought in. A man who has been blinded and brutalised, whom the guards treat with scorn as they leave, who has been brought here to be forgotten. A man named Nero. Eleven years later, Rome has settled into the rule of Vespasian, though the struggles of rival would-be emperors are fresh enough to make life difficult for his son Titus, who has taken charge of keeping the peace. Old factions die hard in Rome. And then, one day, news comes of a new arrival in the city. A senator from distant Spain, unknown to anyone. A blind man, with a young man named Marcus at his side, who has come with a great fortune to play his part in Rome’s future....

For the full review, please see my blog:
https://theidlewoman.net/2018/11/26/deposed-david-barbaree/ ( )

The book moves between two timelines: AD 68 which follows Nero when he is imprisoned and blinded in his cell. AD 79 follows Emperor Vespasian’s son Titus who is obsessed uncovering murderous plots against his father. While there is a huge cast with changing POV’s and changing timelines it was easy to follow and it’s clearly stated in what year we are on.

This is a book about what if Nero had lived it was really fascinating. I don’t know that much about this era in Roman history so can’t tell how well it kept with real history.

Marcus is a slave boy who brings Nero’s food when he is imprisoned. When Nero escapes, he takes the boy with him. No longer a slave, Marcus has some troubles adjusting to his new life and to Nero’s expectations of him. Nero has a plan to get back at the people who blinded him and Marcus has a role in it.

My only gripe about the book is that at some parts I felt the story was little far fetched and everything came so easily for Nero. But otherwise, I thought this was a great book and fabulous debut book. ( )