August 16, 2012 / Leslie

Spotlight & Giveaway: Malice of Fortune by Michael Ennis

Book Spotlight, Historical Fiction, Thriller

Thanks to the publisher, I have two copies of The Malice of Fortune a novel by Michael Ennis, to give away to readers with a US address. I am looking forward to reading this historical thriller set in Renaissance Italy and will have a review later this fall.

Following is a summary from the publisher:

Malice of Fortune
by Michael Ennis

Genre: Historical Thriller
Publisher: Doubleday
Publish Date: September 11, 2012
Format: Hardcover | 416 pages

About the Book

Against a teeming canvas of Borgia politics, Niccolò Machiavelli and Leonardo da Vinci come together to unmask an enigmatic serial killer, as we learn the secret history behind one of the most controversial works in the western canon, The Prince…

When Pope Alexander dispatches a Vatican courtesan, Damiata, to the remote fortress city of Imola to learn the truth behind the murder of Juan, his most beloved illegitimate son, she cannot fail, for the scheming Borgia pope holds her own young son hostage. Once there, Damiata becomes a pawn in the political intrigues of the pope’s surviving son, the charismatic Duke Valentino, whose own life is threatened by the condottieri, a powerful cabal of mercenary warlords. Damiata suspects that the killer she seeks is one of the brutal condottierri, and as the murders multiply, her quest grows more urgent. She enlists the help of an obscure Florentine diplomat, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Valentino’s eccentric military engineer, Leonardo da Vinci, who together must struggle to decipher the killer’s taunting riddles: Leonardo with his groundbreaking “science of observation” and Machiavelli with his new “science of men.” Traveling across an Italy torn apart by war, they will enter a labyrinth of ancient superstition and erotic obsession to discover at its center a new face of evil—and a truth that will shake the foundations of western civilization.

About the Author

MICHAEL ENNIS taught art history at the University of Texas, developed museum programs as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, and worked as an independent curator and consultant. He is the author of two historical novels, The Duchess of Milan and Byzantium. He has written for Esquire and Architectural Digest, and is a regular contributor to Texas Monthly. He lives in Dallas with his television producer wife, Ellen, and their daughter, Arielle.

Giveaway Information

Giveaway is open to those with an address in the US only. To enter, fill out the form below on or before September 5th. For an extra entry tweet or blog the giveaway prior to 9/4. I will draw a random winner who will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond with a mailing address.