Book description
Three women, one goal... who will be Empress of Rome? Rome is bathed in
blood as the Emperor Tiberius is tormented by drug-fuelled terrors of
treason. The innocent are butchered while the guilty do evil in
darkness. None are guiltier than the Emperor's devoted and deluded
'son', Sejanus. In this city of poison three beautiful women are locked
in a lethal rivalry. Agrippina. Driven mad with grief, her obsession
with revenge for her murdered husband imperils the lives of her
children. Apicata. Robbed of her eyes and embittered in her heart, she
schemes in the shadows to empower the husband who despises her. Livilla.
Sensual and sly, she is gripped by a lust for a lover as deadly as he is
desirable. Three women. One goal. Who will be Empress of Rome? Moving
stealthily among them is Iphicles, arch schemer and slave, whose haunted
heart is lightened by the eunuch Lygdus, his willing apprentice in
murder. With paralysed Livia now a helpless captive to her slave, it is
the repellent brat Little Boots' turn to profit from prophecy. But as
Iphicles' deadly plan to enthrone Little Boots unfolds, Livia struggles
secretly towards recovery with the help of the sorceress Martina. Rome
is a nest of vipers, and Livia, the one true Empress of Rome, is
hell-bent on wreaking her vengeance Nest of Vipers is the second
volume in the gripping Empress of Rome series Luke Devenish is a
scriptwriter, novelist, playwright and lecturer. Head Writer with
Neighbours from 2001 to 2007, he worked in key creative roles including
Script Producer, Story Editor and Supervising Script Editor. He oversaw
well over 1,500 episode scripts for the iconic Aussie soap. Previously,
Luke was Script Executive on Something in the Air and, with ABC TV
Drama, worked in the writing and development of SeaChange, RAW FM and
others. Before working in the television industry, Luke was a
playwright, with productions of his work staged by Playbox, the Adelaide
Festival, the Sydney Festival and NIDA. A graduate of Curtin
University's Creative Writing stream, Luke studied fiction under
Elizabeth Jolley and Tim Winton. He regularly teaches story editing and
screenwriting for the Australian Film Television and Radio School.
