Overall Star Rating 4.5 stars. MJ Watts’ The Worms in Fools’ Fingers is a medieval gambol through one of the darkest times in European history. It follows a fictitious group of men, soldiers who have fought in many wars, sometimes on opposing sides. When they are finally fighting on the same team, they become weary of fighting, particularly losing. After all, there really are no winners in war. They desert their posts, taking their seriously wounded comrade with them through much trial and tribulation. They eventually make it to the relative safety of Catherine Withnall’s tavern, where they settle down for a while. However, these are men of action, men who need a cause. What follows is a series of events that become more diabolical as they go along. By judicious reminiscences, Watts gives us glimpses of the events in their lives that have brought them to these points. There is no denying that the Middle Ages was a time of great poverty for some and cruelty towards the impoverished by the upper classes. Watts’ story shows us that even those with the best intentions can be corrupted, and that the thought of power corrupts completely, if you are open to it. The main characters are larger than life, with either a negative arc, or no arc at all, meaning that some of them were bad from the beginning. One started out as quite a likeable fellow, and if I’d been asked who my favourite character was during the first quarter of the book, it would have been Deiter, however, he gets a taste for the cruelty of the witch trials and pursues the accused with a vengeance, thus losing my respect. The hypocrisy of these characters who are happy to engage the services of a healing woman when they needed her for their friend, but were also quick to condemn the same woman and those like her, in the interests of making their collective fortunes. Possibly the only character who maintains his decency throughout the story to the end is the English soldier, James Wylam. The story sometimes gets a bit bogged down by the flashbacks and reminiscences, however as they give good insight into the characters, I felt that they were necessary and, in a way, breaks the rapid pace of the more violent scenes. The dialogue throughout the book drives the story forward and is appropriate. Watts’ uses the vernacular for both the English and German characters so that we get a good idea of how each may have sounded. The story’s plot draws heavily on real events surrounding the 30-year war in Europe and the witch trials of the era. The characters themselves, however, are fictitious, although real characters are mentioned at times to give a historical perspective to the events. This is not a book I would recommend to just anyone. If you are in any way squeamish and find tales of torture, barbaric medical practices, and general violence triggering, then this book is most definitely not for you. Although I would not ordinarily pick up a book with this much violence, as I am interested in history, I felt compelled to read it to the end. I found the accounts of the torture macabre and fascinating, but mostly incredibly disturbing. (Phoebe Wilby)

Overall Star Rating: 4.5 stars. The Worms in Fools’ Fingers is a huge volume at almost 600 pages that must have taken M J Watts a significant amount of time to craft. As a work of historical action and adventure fiction, the lengthy cast of characters means that this was never going to be a short novel. The author has weaved this story around historical events well, leading a realism to it on the whole.  Such vastly different characters mix together surprisingly well, all thanks to the author’s way with words. Key relationships develop, realistic problems are faced and solved, empathy and understanding comes to the reader. Perhaps not a thrilling rollercoaster ride regarding pace for the whole book, thankfully as the reader would be worn out, and graphic descriptions of war and wounds, make this a book that is a little different. I wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to read this myself, but I did enjoy it. I do like the end of the author’s blurb - “The Worms in Fools' Fingers is an historical adventure - a tale of ambition, greed, and betrayal that destroys lives and families, and renders formerly unbreakable friendships asunder.” That, to me, is a greater hook than the actual synopsis itself. (Yvonne Marrs)

Overall Star Rating: 4.5 stars. A historical epic that plunges readers into the brutal reality of 17th-century Europe, where the line between righteousness and wickedness becomes disturbingly blurred. Set against the backdrop of the devastating Thirty Years' War, this 590-page novel follows Udo Beck, a war-weary soldier who discovers the dark profitability of witch confessions—a decision that will irrevocably alter his humanity. The novel's strength lies in its unflinching portrayal of a continent ravaged by three decades of warfare. The author weaves together multiple storylines spanning from the Harz mountains of Saxony to England's witch trials, incorporating historical elements like Old Demdike and the Pendle witches. The author's commitment to historical authenticity shines through in both the vernacular dialogue—which gives readers a genuine sense of how English and German characters might have sounded—and the meticulous recreation of the era's barbaric medical practices and judicial systems. The characters are genuinely well-developed and engaging, each wrestling with their own moral complexities. The author creating memorable personalities that embody the good, the bad, and the morally ambiguous. While the content is compelling, the physical presentation presents some challenges. The paperback's small font size makes this already substantial tome quite difficult to read, and splitting it into two volumes with larger text would significantly improve accessibility. The pacing, particularly in the opening sections, tends to drag in places despite the necessary world-building, and so condensing some sections would benefit the overall  narrative flow. Additionally, occasional typographical errors appear throughout, though not enough to seriously distract from the reading experience. This is emphatically not a book for the squeamish. The Author doesn't shy away from depicting the torture, violence, and barbaric practices of the witch trials. The novel's exploration of how desperation and superstition can transform ordinary people into perpetrators of unthinkable cruelty is both fascinating and deeply disturbing. The unflinching examination of humanity's capacity for both evil and redemption makes for powerful but challenging reading. "The Worms in Fools' Fingers" is a dark, ambitious work that will appeal particularly to readers fascinated by the witch trials and the moral complexities of historical persecution. The Author has created a memorable exploration of how extraordinary circumstances can corrupt ordinary people through narrative that successfully captures the chaos and desperation of a continent torn apart by war, plague, and superstition. Recommended for readers who appreciate historical fiction that doesn't sanitise the past, but comes with strong content warnings for graphic violence and torture. (Kirsty McKay)