The Price of Retribution

By: Christopher Cartwright

Narrated by: David Gilmore

After the world’s most expensive diamond heist goes wrong, Jack Overton finds himself running from the man who had once been his master - England’s most powerful magistrate of the 18th century, Sir Robert Williams. With deep ties to one of the most violent secret societies in Europe, the honorable Sir Robert Williams will stop at nothing to catch him.

There are few places in the western world that would harbor such a fugitive, and he finds himself headed for the one place that no one would bother to look: Great Britain’s newest penal colony - New South Wales.

But surviving in the new harsh land is going to be hard for a thief whose only real skill is looking out for his own greedy desires.

Particularly when he meets recently widowed convict Anna Harper, and finds that their lives and destinies are unwittingly entwined.

©2014 Christopher Cartwright (P)2019 Christopher Cartwright

Epic 18th Century Tale of Australian Colonization

The Price of Retribution by Christopher Cartwright is a compelling multi-decade journey that travels from the streets of 18th century London, across the oceans to Australia, and back again. I thoroughly enjoyed this complex and ambitious story, which has several plot points that culminate into a very satisfying conclusion.

The story begins soon after the King of England’s largest diamond is stollen. The heist was orchestrated by one of England’s most powerful and corrupted magistrates, Sir Robert Williams. When Williams starts killing off everyone who had anything to do with the heist, the man who made the fake replica, Jack Overton, flees England with the real diamond and boards a ship headed to Great Britain’s newest penal colony in New South Wales (present day Sydney). He hides out there for over a decade, where he meets Anna Harper, a beautiful strong-willed widow who was unjustly convicted by Williams and sentenced to life in the penal colony. She survives the atrocities that befall her for one reason: to seek out Williams to find out what happened to her young sons (she believes they were sent to work in one of Williams’ mines).

I really enjoyed Jack’s transformation from a greedy young man who thought of nothing but himself, to a caring and responsible man who befriends the indigenous Australians. He earns Anna’s respect and eventual love by being patient and kind and never forcing her to give him more than she was willing to give. Most importantly and with much personal sacrifice, he is instrumental in finding Anna’s sons and William’s eventual reckoning.

I listened to the Audible version of this story narrated by David Gilmore who did an admirable job. The Price of Retribution is a very satisfying listen and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical literary fiction.

What an intricately intertwined plot!

I'll admit, I had a little trouble keeping all the characters straight, and I had a bit of trouble getting into the book at first. Not that the narrator wasn't good, but I guess I was expecting - or maybe hoping for - a British or Aussie accent, given the locales of the story. Completely my own issue, but it did make it hard for me to lose myself in the story, a bit, at first. The story is wonderfully convoluted and complex, with many twists and turns - some expected, some not. Once I got into it, I enjoyed it. #AudiobookObsession #AuralFixation