Martin Woodhouse (1932–2011)

The Medici Guns is set in the 1400′s in Italy, mostly centred on Florence, as you may have guessed by the title, and it focuses on a few months in the life of a 25 year old Leonardo da Vinci.

A lot of research has gone into producing this book, there are many extracts from Leonardo’s notebooks and it seems to be historically very accurate. Some people may think that means the story may be lacking, but it isn’t. This is a very easy read, with plenty to keep you entertained, whether you are interested in the development of the new type of cannon of the title, or simply the personalities of Renaissance Italy.

And it is also nice to come across a young Leonardo da Vinci, all too often we tend to see him as nothing but an old painter with a beard. This book shows how great an artist he was, as well as how much of a genius he must have been.

The characters are all entertaining, and many are quite likeable. Some are less likeable, but then again, assassins and murderers are rarely intended to by lovable.… (mais)

I was in my coffin. Why had they buried me face downward
Far off night shapes drifted in front of my eyes, and I knew where I was. Everything that had been said and done had led to this moment. I knew that too.
I should have done my homework.
There are definitions in intelligence work as precise as those in science. If I had paid attention I'd have known and understood. Tree Frog was a deception operation.

So begins Martin Woodhouse's snarky and suspenseful Tree Frog a novel of science and spycraft set in the 1960's about - wait for it - remote controlled drone aircraft used for spying!

Woodhouse was one of the writers for "The Avengers" in the Honor Blackmun days, and this book has some of the cheeky dry wit and whimsy of that show.

Giles Yeoman, our talented amateur, gets roped into a complex spy operation. Just wanted his advice, do you know? He's a likeable hero who thinks he's smarter than the boys around him. He's wrong. There are kidnapping and sex and hairsbreadth escapes in the height of the Cold War.

The writing is genre fiction but at a very high order. (Think Len Deighton - in that part of town).

Woodhouse wrote a few sequels and they are worth chasing down.

Enjoyed it when I first read it in the 1970's. Enjoyed reading it again.… (mais)