S. G. MacLean is a Scottish historian and writer of several historical thrillers set in Scotland. „The Seeker“ is set in the London of Oliver Cromwell, and quite obviously she gets into a contest with Sansom, which she, sad to say, loses in every aspect. Her main character, Damian Seeker, is a brutal and intelligent spy, who finds and destroys all Catholics, even if they are practising their religion in the most clandestine way. But all the characters are lifeless, no person exists, that the reader can feel the least sympathy with. So at least this reader here, lays the book aside in frustration. No challenge at all for Sansom!