Oliver Ptzsch's "The Dark Monk: A Gripping Historical Thriller (US Edition)

would-be tai' chi master: This book was well written and has a great plot that is full of twists and turns. I’m looking forward to reading more from Potzch.

United States on Sep 08, 2023

ZD: The Dark Monk is a page-turning good yarn! It has crime, detection, romance - none resolved until the last moment. I had already bought, read and enjoyed the first book in the series and will, in due course, proceed to the third tale. I will not do this too quickly partly because the work needs to be absorbed and digested, and partly because it is not a 'comfortable' story in the way of some other series to which I am addicted. Oliver Plotsch writes both knowledgeably and fluently. He has deep knowledge of all aspects of crime and punishment in seventeenth century Bavaria and the landscape of mountains, forests, rivers, villages, towns and monasteries to which he has committed himself. He seems to understand in his bones the mores that continued to pertain in the collapsing feudal society that would last for the best part of another two hundred years in this neck of the woods. His translator understands the nuances of both the original language (German) and English it is a happy marriage.

Australia on Nov 30, 2020

Josh Mauthe: Oliver Pötzsch's The Hangman's Daughter was a pleasant little surprise - a piece of historical fiction that wore its research smoothly, using it all in service of a solid thriller that could easily appeal to a modern audience. Add into that Pötzsch's own connections to the characters - the titular hangman, Jacob Kuisl, is Pötzsch's ancestor - and what seemed like a pretty relentless Amazon marketing campaign and you've got all the ingredients for the sort of book that could easily be a runaway hit. As it was, The Hangman's Daughter's pleasures were  smaller in scale, and held back a little bit by some of the very modern characterizations that crept into the book, but none of it kept the book from being a lot of fun to read.

The Dark Monk, the second book in the Hangman's Daughter series (despite the much smaller role of the daughter in the series compared to her father and the young town doctor), does a lot of what made the first book so much fun to read. Pötzsch's evocation of 17th-century Bavaria is wonderful, immersing you in a world that feels immaculately researched and realistic without ever grinding the story to a halt to show off...

United States on Sep 19, 2019

Love Reading: I really enjoyed the first book 'The Hangman's Daughter' and I think it must be wonderful to have a colourful family history that can be turned into a story.
I enjoyed the The Dark Monk too, but I was a bit dismayed by the modernisms that crept into the language. It pulled me out of the seventeenth century a little. I also wondered about matchboxes and I don't think women wore makeup unless they were prostitutes or actresses.
But I did like the way the characters followed clues to what they believed was the treasure of the Knights Templar. This theme is similar to the film National Treasure with Nicholas Cage who is also chasing the treasure of the same knights.
The story did make me turn the page and if that happens then I always regard it as a good story. I'm getting used to Jakob Kuisl although I do find him creepy since he's such a dichotomy; a healer and an executioner. I always feel wary when he's about and like the folk of the Bavarian town in which he lives, I feel like crossing myself to ward off evil.
I do like Magdalena and Simon and I think they work well together although whether they'll have a happy ending I'll have to wait and see.
At the end of The...

United Kingdom on Sep 19, 2019

Sher_Monty: I love that the author is using his own family history (names, professions, places) to create this historical fiction series. The end where he explains where he got his info and how he tied it into the story is probably my favourite part. This book he decided to take us on a bit of an adventure following riddles left by an old Templar which could possibly lead to some sort of treasure. There’s so much more to this one, but I don’t think I can do it justice. Highly recommend this series if you’re into historical fiction that’s slightly different and not just about romance.

Canada on Aug 17, 2019

jodenoy: I purchased The Dark Monk after reading The Hangman's Daughter. I am loving this series set in seventeenth-century Bavaria. I wonder if the books are made more enjoyable by the fact that the author is a descendant of the eponymous hangman, Jakob Kuisl. The stories make you feel you are living in Bavaria in the 1600s.

The Dark Monk is an exploration of ancient churches, almost a treasure hunt of churches found through cryptic clues. Lurking in the background is the mysticism of The Templars, and a race to find ancient treasure.

Of course, these books would be incomplete without depictions of medieval torture and execution. There is a description of the horrors of execution on the wheel. Jacob Kuisl is portrayed as a family man, just doing a job, and doing it as humanely as possible.

The book ends with a depiction of how to find places in the book today. This could be useful for anyone intending to tour Bavaria.

I am looking forward to reading the next episode of this great series.

United Kingdom on Jul 03, 2017

MBT: A local priest is poisoned after a mysterious discovery that seems connected to the legendary Knights Templar, and hangman Jakob Kuisl, medic Simon Fronwieser, and hangman's daughter Magdalena again find themselves ferreting out clues to discover who did it and why.

Dark-robed and hooded strangers are hanging around, a gang of robbers is terrorizing the countryside, and other unidentifiable persons are lurking in the background as the hangman, Simon, and Magdalena set out on their adventures. The three main characters spend a good deal of the story away from each other on their own missions, but come together very neatly in the end. Simon seems to be the only one actually on the trail of the murder/mystery, where he is joined by the dead priest's sister, Benedikta, a worldly and sophisticated woman who fascinates the medic. Magdalena, playing a much larger role in this book, takes a trip up the river to Augsburg in order to purchase herbs and the like for both the midwife and her father...but her seemingly innocent trip soon turns deadly and she finds herself in grave danger at the heart of the mystery. Someone wants Jakob Kuisl out of the way and far from the Templar...

United States on Sep 21, 2012

Tony G: It took me a little while to get into this story but the more I read, the better I liked it. It has a wonderfully authentic feel to it and the author obviously knows, and loves, both the places and the period. The lives and times of the characters are wonderfully vivid. The story itself is a hunt for treasure, in the style of The Da Vinci Code, but set in medieval Europe. There are a couple of neat plot twists along the way as well, as Jakob Kuisl, his daughter and their young Doctor friend tackle murderes and bandits, as well as trying to track down the Templar treasure. My only slight reservation is that one or two of the villains came across as a bit stereotyped and one or two minor characters appeared and disappeared rather too quickly, but that is probably me being too picky. On the whole, it was very well constructed and kept me guessing to the end.

This is a thoroughly entertaining story, set against a truly authentic historical background. Don't be put off by the original being written in German; the translation is very good indeed and comes across as very natural.

United Kingdom on Jun 28, 2012