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From the critically acclaimed author of Mr. Timothy comes an ingenious tale of murder and revenge, featuring a retired New York City detective and a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe.
At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope just off the parade grounds. An apparent suicide is not unheard of in a harsh regimen like West Point's, but the next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has stolen into the room where the body lay and removed the heart.
At a loss for answers and desperate to avoid any negative publicity, the Academy calls on the services of a local civilian, Augustus Landor, a former police detective who acquired some renown during his years in New York City before retiring to the Hudson Highlands for his health. Now a widower, and restless in his seclusion, Landor agrees to take on the case. As he questions the dead man's acquaintances, he finds an eager assistant in a moody, intriguing young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The cadet's name? Edgar Allan Poe.
Impressed with Poe's astute powers of observation, Landor is convinced that the poet may prove useful — if he can stay sober long enough to put his keen reasoning skills to the task. Working in close contact, the two men — separated by years but alike in intelligence — develop a surprisingly deep rapport as their investigation takes them into a hidden world of secret societies, ritual sacrifices, and more bodies. Soon, however, the macabre murders and Landor's own buried secrets threaten to tear the two men and their newly formed friendship apart.
A rich tapestry of fine prose and intricately detailed characters, The Pale Blue Eye transports readers into a labyrinth of the unknown that will leave them guessing until the very end.
Review:
"These two new novels about Edgar Allan Poe's curious life both come draped with the necessary — nay mandatory — mystery, but their approaches could not be more different. In 'The Pale Blue Eye,' by Louis Bayard, Poe is an impassioned genius with the world ahead of him; in 'The Poe Shadow,' by Matthew Pearl, he is the dishonored dead. 'The Pale Blue Eye' invites us to a dull, dark... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review) and soundless day in the winter of 1830 and the Hudson Valley, where retired New York City detective Gus Landor is nursing the double trauma of physical illness and personal tragedy. At nearby West Point a cadet has been found hanged in a telltale manner, his heart removed from his body. Fearing closure of the school, the administration asks Landor to investigate. To assist him in this endeavor Gus calls upon a 20-year-old cadet named Edgar Allan Poe, who is at the military academy in a vain attempt to secure his legacy from his foster father. More murder and intrigue quickly follow, and Landor and Poe establish a curious alliance as they try to unravel the mystery. There are, I feel, easier books to write, and it is to Bayard's huge credit that he carries off not only the cold and miserable locale with an atmospheric darkness worthy of his illustrious subject, but also that Poe himself walks and talks so convincingly throughout the pages of this novel. We know that Poe led a life of professional and personal disappointments coupled with the sure knowledge of his own genius, and Bayard has expertly placed the young Poe among the other characters here: his arrogance toward those who command the academy, his awkwardness and passion with the daughter of a military surgeon and his strained relationship with Landor, whom he wants to see as the father figure he never possessed. But despite all this hugely accomplished and well-observed character study, the detective story that is meant to act as a framework for the book just doesn't match up to the style and quality of the prose. I'm something of a traditionalist when it comes to detective novels. I like to be offered red herrings and clues until given a false and then real resolution that makes me think admiringly, 'Ah, I should have seen that coming!' In 'The Poe Shadow' by Matthew Pearl, author of 'The Dante Club,' we roll on to the year 1849. Poe, after a short lifetime of hard work, tragedy, disappointment and grudging acceptance of his literary worth, is buried in a Baltimore cemetery with just four mourners in attendance. Controversial during his lifetime because of his macabre stories and his penchant for accusing fellow writers of all manner of sins, this upstart crow is damned by the newspapers eager to write anything negative about the mysterious death of the mystery writer. Here Pearl steps into the fray and gives us the young Quentin Clark, a Baltimore attorney of independent means who sets out to uncover the truth behind the death of his favorite author. Abandoning a partnership in a law firm and throwing a sound society engagement into jeopardy, he journeys to Paris to seek the services of the one man capable of answering the question of Poe's untimely death: the real-life model for C. Auguste Dupin, the brilliant detective who thrilled Clark — and the world — with his astounding feats of 'ratiocination' in cases such as 'The Murders in the Rue Morgue.' Clark soon finds himself with not one but two eccentric Frenchmen who lay claim to being the model for the fictional detective. To compound the problem further, they are both soon back in Baltimore attempting to seek out the truth, while behind them the wind of international conspiracy gathers pace. The Poe Shadow belongs firmly in the Dupin/Sherlock mold of cerebral armchair investigations revolving around detailed study of newspapers and the welcome return of inverted clue logic — not why something is, but why it isn't. This retro-ratiocination breathes refreshing life into the genre by returning to first principles. Beneath the cloak of this well-paced detective story and its understated wit, however, is a scholarly piece of work, a meticulously researched and detailed discussion of the events surrounding Poe's death. In fact, one wonders where reality ends and fiction begins, a question that Pearl dutifully discusses in the afterword. As a period piece the book is gloriously and sumptuously detailed, and if I ever get to Baltimore in the mid-19th century, I daresay I shall not be surprised by what I find. Jasper Fforde is the author of 'The Eyre Affair.' His sixth novel, 'The Fourth Bear,' will be published in July." Reviewed by Jasper Fforde, Washington Post Book World (Copyright 2006 Washington Post Book World Service/Washington Post Writers Group)
(hide most of this review)
Review:
"[A]nother literary tour de force....At novel's end, the reader may want to start again from the beginning." Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Review:
"[T]his period mystery moves methodically to the suspects, the motives, and the clues that twist and turn like the Hudson itself. The novel is further charmed by a skillful and lyrical writing style and the intrigue of West Point, now and then." Library Journal
Review:
"Louis Bayard is a writer of remarkable gifts: for language, for imagination, for that mysterious admixture of audacity and craftsmanship that signals a major talent in the making." Joyce Carol Oates
Review:
"Louis Bayard...turns from Charles Dickens to Edgar Allan Poe with debonair wit....[S]ucceed[s] by emulating the suspense structure of Poe's exquisitely lurid short stories and...adding the romanticism of Poe's lyric poetry. (Grade: B+)" Entertainment Weekly
Review:
"A first-rate thriller with language that sparkles on the page." Dustin Thomason, co-author of The Rule of Four
Review:
"Mr. Bayard has a gift for Poe mimicry and, as well, for constructing a labyrinthine plot. The story's climax is a parody of author Poe's nightmarish flourishes." Dallas Morning News
Synopsis:
At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart. Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.
Louis Bayard is the author of Mr. Timothy, a New York Times Notable Book, which the Washington Post called "clever...sly and wonderful." A writer and book reviewer, whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and on Nerve.com and Salon.com, among others, Bayard lives in Washington, D.C.
Virginia, January 29, 2012 (view all comments by Virginia)
I read a lot of historical fiction and/or mysteries and I had high hopes for this one but it was the worst book I read in 2011. The word tedious springs to mind. No likable characters and no feel for time or place. Ending was contrived andwent against all that had happened up to that pount.
redrockbookworm, July 22, 2008 (view all comments by redrockbookworm)
During the hours before his death, Augustus Langor, retired former NYC detective and widower recalls the circumstances surrounding his investigation of the gruesome murder of a cadet at West Point. The year is 1830 and the institution had not yet earned the reputation it enjoys today so the powers that be engage his services in an attempt to avoid any negative publicity. During his investigation he enlists the help of Cadet Edgar Allan Poe to be his eyes and ears on campus, holding clandestine meetings with him to discuss various clues and suspects. The novels characterization of Cadet Poe is that of an overly pensive, tormented and romantic individual who is aching to "connect" with someone. This is probably an accurate depiction of the "Literary Poe" but it makes for a rather boring, "Poe the Murder Investigator".
I found the voice of this book to be rather stilted and annoying, and Landor and Poe imbued with neither compassion nor humanity.
Guess the bottom line is, even a lover of historical fiction such as myself wants more than just characters in a historical setting. I want a story with characters that draw me in and a story that fills my senses. A Pale Blue Eye left me running on empty.
Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No (11 of 23 readers found this comment helpful)
"Review"
by Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review),
"[A]nother literary tour de force....At novel's end, the reader may want to start again from the beginning."
"Review"
by Library Journal,
"[T]his period mystery moves methodically to the suspects, the motives, and the clues that twist and turn like the Hudson itself. The novel is further charmed by a skillful and lyrical writing style and the intrigue of West Point, now and then."
"Review"
by Joyce Carol Oates,
"Louis Bayard is a writer of remarkable gifts: for language, for imagination, for that mysterious admixture of audacity and craftsmanship that signals a major talent in the making."
"Review"
by Entertainment Weekly,
"Louis Bayard...turns from Charles Dickens to Edgar Allan Poe with debonair wit....[S]ucceed[s] by emulating the suspense structure of Poe's exquisitely lurid short stories and...adding the romanticism of Poe's lyric poetry. (Grade: B+)"
"Review"
by Dustin Thomason, co-author of The Rule of Four,
"A first-rate thriller with language that sparkles on the page."
"Review"
by Dallas Morning News,
"Mr. Bayard has a gift for Poe mimicry and, as well, for constructing a labyrinthine plot. The story's climax is a parody of author Poe's nightmarish flourishes."
"Synopsis"
by Harper Collins,
At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart. Augustus Landor—who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective—is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally—a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.
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