Centurion

With sword, spear, and shield, Roman legionnaires hack, stab, and slash a bloody path across 1st-century A.D. Syria in this eighth volume in Scarrow%E2%80%99s Eagle series (after The Eagle in the Sand). Macro and Cato are Roman centurions in charge of a cohort of legionnaires, and a regiment of auxiliaries, respectively. Close friends, they endure the soldier%E2%80%99s life together for the sake of Rome. Here, they find themselves embroiled in an unprecedented and dangerous situation%E2%80%94a revolt against Rome in neighboring Palmyra threatens to bring war with Parthia, a long-time enemy of Rome that has its sights set on Palmyra. Cato, Macro, and their men are sent to safeguard the besieged Palmyran king and his loyalists. The march across the vast Syrian Desert is hampered by hunger, thirst, and enemy ambushes, but the real trouble begins when they arrive at Palmyra and discover the city surrounded by bloodthirsty rebels and riddled with treachery, cowardice, betrayal, and murder. And then the Parthian army arrives. Replete with court intrigue, deadly politics, and massive close-quarters battle scenes, Scarrows%E2%80%99s newest is excellent historical fiction. Agent: Meg Davis, Ki Agency (U.K.). (Oct.)