Pompeii
From the bestselling author of Conclave
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4.4 • 97 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
**PRE-ORDER AGRIPPA NOW: THE THRILLING NEW NOVEL FROM ROBERT HARRIS, COMING AUGUST 2026**
A CORRUPT WORLD ON THE BRINK OF A TERRIFYING DISASTER.
'A pulse-rate-speeding masterpiece' SUNDAY TIMES
'A stunning novel . . . holds your attention to the end' THE TIMES
During a sweltering week in late August, as Rome's richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous warnings that something is going wrong. Wells and springs are failing, a man has disappeared, and now the greatest aqueduct in the world - the mighty Aqua Augusta - has suddenly ceased to flow . . .
Through the eyes of four characters - a young engineer, an adolescent girl, a corrupt millionaire and an elderly scientist - Robert Harris brilliantly recreates a luxurious world on the brink of destruction.
'As explosive as Etna, as addictive as a thriller, as satisfying as great history' DAILY TELEGRAPH
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this fine historical by British novelist Harris (Archangel; Enigma; Fatherland), an upstanding Roman engineer rushes to repair an aqueduct in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, which, in A.D. 79, is getting ready to blow its top. Young Marcus Attilius Primus becomes the aquarius of the great Aqua Augusta when its former chief engineer disappears after 20 years on the job. When water flow to the coastal town of Misenum is interrupted, Attilius convinces the admiral of the Roman fleet the scholar Pliny the Elder to give him a fast ship to Pompeii, where he finds the source of the problem in a burst sluiceway. Lively writing, convincing but economical period details and plenty of intrigue keep the pace quick, as Attilius meets Corelia, the defiant daughter of a vile real estate speculator, who supplies him with documents implicating her father and Attilius's predecessor in a water embezzlement scheme. Attilius has bigger worries, though: a climb up Vesuvius reveals that an eruption is imminent. Before he can warn anyone, he's ambushed by the double-crossing foreman of his team, Corvax, and a furious chase ensues. As the volcano spews hot ash, Attilius fights his way back to Pompeii in an attempt to rescue Corelia. Attilius, while possessed of certain modern attitudes and a respect for empirical observation, is no anachronism. He even sends Corelia back to her cruel father at one point, advising her to accept her fate as a woman. Harris's volcanology is well researched, and the plot, while decidedly secondary to the expertly rendered historic spectacle, keeps this impressive novel moving along toward its exciting finale.
Customer Reviews
Great book
I found this book by typing random topics, I had nothing to read
That's what I do😊
Right, well I was reading the book description and was thinking wow this sounds cool. Then I came here to the reviews, there weren't any and I said to myself once l'm done reading this book I'm writing a review.
Ok the review part.
This books have to be one of my favs. I loved the story because it was way back in the past, i thought that was cool. The book was very well written, I think the only other book that was written that well was the Hunger Games. It was one of those that you just thought about even after you've done reading a chapter. I was always thinking 'I can't believe she did that' or 'omg did that actual happen.'
I should probably rap this up
I really loved this book and I think you should totally read it!!!😃
Power & greed
A story of power and greed, set in the coastal cities of Misenum and Pompeii in 1st-century Italy. The novel's tension increases as water engineer Marcus Attilius traces the failure of the region's aqueducts to the supposedly dormant Mt Vesuvius - yet finds no audience for his fears. Harris's evocative depiction of the final hours of Pompeii is a compelling portrayal of the destruction of a decadent society