The Devil's Company (Benjamin Weaver Series #3) »

Acclaimed author David Liss combines historical erudition with mystery, complex characterization, and a captivating sense of humor in books like A Conspiracy of Paper and the highly-anticipated sequel A Spectacle of Corruption.

From the acclaimed author of The Whiskey Rebels and A Conspiracy of Paper comes a superb new historical thriller set in the splendor and squalor of eighteenth-century London. In Benjamin Weaver, David Liss has created one of fiction’s most enthralling characters.

The year is 1722. Ruffian for hire, ex-boxer, and master of disguise, Weaver finds himself caught in a deadly game of cat and mouse, pitted against Jerome Cobb, a wealthy and mysterious schemer who needs Weaver’s strength and guile for his own treacherous plans.

Weaver is blackmailed into stealing documents from England’s most heavily guarded estate, the headquarters of the ruthless British East India Company, but the theft of corporate secrets is only the first move in a daring conspiracy within the eighteenth century’s most powerful corporation. To save his friends and family from Cobb’s reach, Weaver must infiltrate the Company, navigate its warring factions, and uncover a secret plot of corporate rivals, foreign spies, and government operatives. With millions of pounds and the security of the nation at stake, Weaver will find himself in a labyrinth of hidden agendas, daring enemies, and unexpected allies.

With the explosive action and scrupulous period research that are David Liss’s trademarks, The Devil’s Company, depicting the birth of the modern corporation, is the most impressive achievement yet from an author who continues to set ever higher standards for historical suspense.

Publishers Weekly

Liss's novel dissects the corrupt underbelly of 18th-century commerce, politics and religion. Benjamin Weaver, a “thief taker,” is blackmailed into spying on the powerful British East India Company, while a variety of undercover and double agents keep their eyes on him. The audio version is enhanced by a stirring performance by Simon Vance. His rendition of Weaver as crafty but moralistic is nearly perfect, though Weaver comes across as more educated and middle class than Liss intended. But in tackling a long novel rife with dialogue, Vance performs a huge cast that reflects the London society of 1722, including merchants, textile workers, accountants, security guards, a Scottish physician, Portuguese Jews, French spies, street urchins, plus the denizens of many a tavern and brothel. A wide audience will be delighted by this fast-paced thriller, thanks to Vance's deft dramatization. A Random hardcover (Reviews, May 18). (July)