Jaclyn’s Review: The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon

The Scottish Prisoner (Lord John Grey #4)
written by Diana Gabaldon
published by Random House, 2011

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Did I enjoy this book? I picked up this book from the library because I was in a bit of a reading slump and wanted to revisit the world of Outlander but didn’t want to invest the time it takes to read all of Outlander. I thought this would be a good compromise. Boy was I wrong. Listen, I love Outlander. The problem is, I really don’t care for Lord John Grey. He gets better as the books go on, but he’s just not my favorite. So trying to read an entire book about him was rough. There wasn’t enough Jamie to help me suffer through Lord John.

 

 

Would I recommend it? Diana Gabaldon is an amazing author, so you won’t be disappointed in the writing style of this book. Additionally, this includes characters that you know and (kind of) love, assuming you have read the original Outlander series. If you didn’t care for Lord John either, I would skip this whole set of novellas.

 

 

About the book – from Goodreads: London, 1760. For Jamie Fraser, paroled prisoner-of-war in the remote Lake District, life could be worse: He’s not cutting sugar cane in the West Indies, and he’s close enough to the son he cannot claim as his own. But Jamie Fraser’s quiet existence is coming apart at the seams, interrupted first by dreams of his lost wife, then by the appearance of Tobias Quinn, an erstwhile comrade from the Rising.

Like many of the Jacobites who aren’t dead or in prison, Quinn still lives and breathes for the Cause. His latest plan involves an ancient relic that will rally the Irish. Jamie is having none of it—he’s sworn off politics, fighting, and war. Until Lord John Grey shows up with a summons that will take him away from everything he loves—again.

Lord John Grey—aristocrat, soldier, and occasional spy—finds himself in possession of a packet of explosive documents that exposes a damning case of corruption against a British officer. But they also hint at a more insidious danger. Time is of the essence as the investigation leads to Ireland, with a baffling message left in “Erse,” the tongue favored by Scottish Highlanders. Lord John, who oversaw Jacobite prisoners when he was governor of Ardsmiur prison, thinks Jamie may be able to translate—but will he agree to do it?

Soon Lord John and Jamie are unwilling companions on the road to Ireland, a country whose dark castles hold dreadful secrets, and whose bogs hide the bones of the dead. A captivating return to the world Diana Gabaldon created in her Outlander and Lord John series, The Scottish Prisoner is another masterpiece of epic history, wicked deceit, and scores that can only be settled in blood.

 

 
 

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** This post first appeared on Every Free Chance Books (everyfreechance.com) on December 19, 2018.