Damiata and Niccolo work with the other mastermind of the time, Leonardo da Vinci, to solve a series of brutal murders. The story is narrated by Damiata, a Vatican courtesan and Niccolo Machiavelli, who is most well-known now for his book The Prince. The Malice of Fortune is set during the papacy of Alexander VI. The primary players in the Borgia family of Renaissance Italy include Pope Calixtus III, his nephew Pope Alexander VI, Alexander VI's son Cesare, and daughter Lucrezia (See ' Beyond the Book'). This Borgia-era novel creates fictional events utilizing factual evidence from historical characters in the manner of Philippa Gregory and Matthew Pearl. A must read.The Borgia family of Renaissance Italy are key players in this historical mystery, which is rich in period detail and satisfying despite a somewhat confusing storyline

It is at once intelligent, frightening and deeply satisfying – a real tour de force. These three characters are so well fleshed out, so intensely human, that we can almost hear the wheels turning in their minds. This dense novel is well worth the effort. Later in his life, Machiavelli apparently made oblique reference to these secrets, revealing the extent of horrific evil of which men are capable. To that add a dash of Umberto Eco – from the outset in his narrative, Machiavelli reveals that he has “deeply buried” the “terrifying secret” of these crimes and the pivotal political events that are interwoven into the story in his seminal work, The Prince.

Told first in Damiata’s voice, then in Machiavelli’s, the mystery unfolds amidst a backdrop of atmospherics so palpable that I felt like I was participating in this search. As the dismembered bodies of women start piling up, Damiata partners with Niccolò Machiavelli, an obscure diplomat from Florence, and the Duke’s military engineer, the brilliant but eccentric Leonardo da Vinci, to find the serial killer, piecing together and dissecting the convoluted riddles left by him – Machiavelli applying his “science of men” and da Vinci his “science of observation.” As Duke Valentino, the Pope’s other son, attempts to reach détente with the condottieri, mercenary warloads who are tearing apart Italy, Damiata believes her own life to be in jeopardy. Imola is a virtual hotbed of cutthroat politics. As surety for her success, the Pope holds Damiata’s son hostage. In the midst of an upsurge in interest in the Borgias, Ennis’s new historical thriller is, at the very least, well-timed, and at best, one of the most intense literary journeys I’ve taken in a long while.ĭamiata, a Vatican courtesan, is sent by Pope Alexander to Imola, a remote fortress city, to learn the identity of his son, Juan’s, killer.

The Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis