After reading about Pitman and Coke's first outing in Plague, I was looking forward to finding out about how the characters deal with a quite different terror. However, I gave up after only three chapters. Not only is the villain known from the first, thereby mirroring its predecessor, but the author introduces a supernatural sub-plot that seems at odds with the rest of the narrative. I realised by leafing through the pages that the account of the Great Fire, which was my main interest in the book, doesn't start until p. 213, so that just over 100 pages are devoted to it, which makes it appear almost like an afterthought rather than the main plot angle. It looks like the majority of the preceding pages is made up of another sub-plot, this time religious and involving the Fifth Monarchists, thereby again mirroring its predecessor.

While I appreciate historic authenticity, this doesn't necessarily apply to the language used in the book, except for the odd historic term that anchors the narrative in time. The author chose to use archaic English not only for the dialogue (fair enough) but also for the majority of the omniscient POV, which slows down the pace considerably. I found that I could not engage with the characters this time and decided to cut my losses. Time is scarce and there are more appealing books on the shelf waiting to be read. ( )