I won an Advance Reader's Edition of this book as a giveaway on Goodreads. 4.5 stars

Hilary Mantel's sequel has achieved the rare distinction of a higher rating than its predecessor, Wolf Hall. This novel continues to follow the life and times of the crafty Thomas Cromwell during the fall of Anne Boleyn. Cromwell is at the height of his power and he is crafty enough to recognize something that others grasping for power fail to realize - give the king what he wants, whatever it may be. And so, Cromwell does, by orchestrating Anne's destruction.

Mantel has such an original narrative voice. For example, " he needs to learn to bend with the breeze, like his father; but the time to learn anything is running out fast. There is a time to stand on your dignity, but there is a time to abandon it in the interests of your safety. There is a time to smirk behind the hand of cards you have drawn, and there is a time to throw down your purse on the table and say, 'Thomas Cromwell, you win.'"

The narration of this novel flowed better than Wolf Hall. Additionally, the plot was more thrilling since Cromwell is now at the height of his power and is in the middle of the story's intrigue. Ultimately, Mantel's creation of Cromwell is the main appeal for, as Mantel says, he "remains sleek, plump and densely inaccessible, like a choice plum in a Christmas pie." He is inscrutable, revered, contemplative, and sly. He knows silence is generally better than words. Mantel's image of Cromwell is, in a word, brilliant.