A Kingdom's Cost

A Historical Novel of Scotland (The Black Douglas Trilogy, Book 1)

By: J.R. Tomlin

Narrated by: Gary Furlong

Eighteen-year-old James Douglas can only watch, helpless, as the Scottish freedom fighter William Wallace is hanged, drawn, and quartered. Even under the heel of a brutal English conqueror, James' blood-drenched homeland may still have one hope for freedom, the rightful king of the Scots, Robert the Bruce. James swears fealty to the man he believes can lead the fight against English tyranny.

The Bruce is soon a fugitive, king in name and nothing more. Scotland is occupied, the Scottish resistance crushed. The woman James loves is captured and imprisoned. Yet James believes their cause is not lost. With driving determination, he blazes a path in blood and violence, in cunning and ruthlessness as he wages a guerrilla war to restore Scotland's freedom. James knows he risks sharing Wallace's fate, but what he truly fears is that he has become as merciless as the conqueror he fights.

©2011 J.R. Tomlin (P)2020 Tantor

Douglas and Bruce for Scotland

I loved the fiction and non-fiction approach to this book. lots of great history. The narrator does a great job.

Fantastic story,

Well written and the nararrator brought the story to life.
Can't wait to read/listen to the rest of the story.

a great find

I've been searching to find good book series as I've read a lot. This book was surprisingly good. highly recommend!

I loved it

A great story - I listened on a roadtrip from Pittsburgh to Atlanta - I had 45 minutes left at the end of my trip and almost drove around the city again to finish !!

I Look Forward to More

Good depiction of historical events. It made the history interesting to listen to. I look forward to hearing the next book in the series.

A good escapist read

Excellent performance but the story itself was not well fleshed out. If you don’t know much about Scottish history you might struggle with the context and timelines. I did like James‘ internal dialogue and the fullness Tomlin gives to the character. A good escapist read.

Fair and Fast

If you're interested in 14th Century Europe or Scottish history I'm sure you'll enjoy the book. Not enough peripheral descriptive information to make me fall in love with any of the characters or settings save one or two.

However, I am interested in the time period and setting so I found the book easy to follow and enjoyable enough. Just can't assume that will be most readers who might just be looking for a bit of casual action.

Mayhap you will like this story

Mayhap, if you like the word “mayhap,” then, mayhap, this is the very book for you. Mayhap, if you like the word mayhap to be used every third sentence then, mayhap, your love of “mayhap” will, mayhap, be appeased. However, mayhap you like the word mayhap to mayhap be mayhap used mayhap even more often, then no mayhap about it; this book is your mayhap go-to book (mayhap). If you read this, mayhap I have been mayhap of some use to you … mayhap.

Mayhap Mr. Tomlin will mayhap one day, mayhap find a thesaurus.