Synopses & Reviews
New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice “[An] ingenious revision . . . [and] a pleasure . . . Rich in gloomy, moody atmosphere . . . Levine's London has a brutal steampunk quality.” — New York Times Book Review
“Riveting Hyde renders evil in shades of gray . . . [with] rich, often intoxicating prose.” — Washington Post
What happens when a villain becomes a hero?
Mr. Hyde is trapped, locked in Dr. Jekyll’s surgical cabinet, counting the hours until his inevitable capture. As four days pass, he has the chance, finally, to tell his story—the story of his brief, marvelous life.
Summoned to life by strange potions, Hyde knows not when or how long he will have control of “the body.” When dormant, he watches Dr. Jekyll from a remove, conscious of this other, high-class life but without influence. As the experiment continues, their mutual existence is threatened, not only by the uncertainties of untested science, but also by a mysterious stalker. Hyde is being taunted—possibly framed. Girls have gone missing; someone has been killed. Who stands watching in the shadows? In the blur of this shared consciousness, can Hyde ever be confident these crimes were not committed by his hand?
Review
"[A]n audacious and triumphant entertainment....With surprising but plausible twists, and a visceral, bawdy evocation of Victorian London, Bayard has crafted a page-turner of a thriller that is elevated beyond its genre..." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"[I]n true Dickensian fashion, [Bayard] makes us care passionately about the fates of his characters, even to the point of overlooking an improbable turn or three. A first-rate entertainment." Bill Ott, Booklist
Review
"Vigorous, well imagined and thoroughly entertaining. Louis Bayard can write up a storm." Literary Review
Review
"A spirited adventure...this mix of thriller and literature is as rich as a Christmas cake soaked in brandy." Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Review
"Bayard is daring to elaborate on a work that has become deeply embedded in our culture....Mr. Timothy, while in no way approaching the greatness of its source, is nevertheless an inventive and amusing turn on it." Julie Gray, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A]n intriguing reexamination of Dickens's beloved waif, saddled with a not altogether successful thriller, à la The Alienist....[A] clever premise and smartly detailed prose manage to offset the disappointment of this tale's forced excitement." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"If you have not had your fill of ghost-ridden heroes, needy orphans, and foggy nights in cobblestone streets, this sequel with its breakneck plot, colorful characters, and the reappearance of Scrooge and the Cratchits will fill the bill." Library Journal
Review
"Bayard creates several clever ligatures to Dickens's original text, but...its intent is not to show how characters turned out but rather...to meditate on the question of identity and loss....When it evokes the original, it's with a sly twist." Art Winslow, The Washington Post
Review
"Bayard doesn't just want to introduce us to a rollicking cast or tell us a rip-roaring story, though he does both. He wants us to ponder, as Timothy comes to ponder...what makes a family?...[A] terrific book." Detroit Free Press
Review
"[A] divinely crafted novel, in which each detail is carefully considered and selected for its contribution to the overall effect....[A] writer of skill who pulls off this novel full of subtle but intricate tricks with apparent ease." Denver Post
Review
"Lush prose moves the story along without calling undue attention to itself. Plot twists abound....But as should be the case with any work that steps into such mammoth Dickensian shoes, it is the characters who carry this novel." Seattle Times
Review
"A compelling, well-plotted story that never falters....Despite its dark undertones, Mr. Timothy is filled with optimism and the strength of the human heart, much as the original to which it pays homage." South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Review
"[S]uperbly crafted....An ingeniously constructed page-turner brimming with surprises....[L]ike A Christmas Carol, Mr. Timothy is not only uncommonly entertaining, but deeply satisfying as well." Orlando Sentinel
Review
"[A] dazzling blend of literary fiction and white-knuckle thriller." People
Review
"The voice and intelligence behind the book are a real marvel." Sena Jeter Naslund, author of Ahab's Wife and Four Spirits
Review
"[A]ll of the moral passion of a Dickens novel but none of the quaint sentimentality." Gary Krist, bestelling author of Extravagance
Review
"Mr. Timothy is a spirited and absorbing thriller and Louis Bayard is a very talented writer." Kevin Baker, author of Paradise Alley
Review
"[A] satisfying, gruesome thriller and a moving meditation on fathers, sons, and the making of a family." Sarah Smith, bestselling author of The Vanished Child
Review
"[Mr. Timothy is] a fantastic Victorian thriller starring Tiny Tim, who's 'not so tiny any more.'...The ending is as much Edgar Allan Poe as Mission Impossible, a plot with enough trap doors and false bottoms to show just how much fun a ripping thriller with eggnog can be. But what's particularly satisfying is that beneath these waves of adventure rests a truly moving meditation on grief and reconciliation." Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire Christian Science Monitor review)
Synopsis
It's the Christmas season, and Mr. Timothy Cratchit, not the pious child the world thought he was, has just buried his father. He's also struggling to bury his past as a cripple and shed his financial ties to his benevolent "Uncle" Ebenezer by losing himself in the thick of London's underbelly. He boards at a brothel in exchange for teaching the mistress how to read and spends his nights dredging the Thames for dead bodies and the treasures in their pockets.
Timothy's life takes a sharp turn when he discovers the bodies of two dead girls, each seared with the same cruel brand on the upper arm. The sight of their horror-struck faces compels Timothy to become the protector of another young girl, Philomela, from the fate the others suffered at the hands of a dangerous and powerful man.
A different kind of Christmas story, this breathless flight through the teeming markets, shadowy passageways, and rolling brown fog of 1860s London would do Dickens proud for its surprising twists and turns, and its extraordinary heart.
Synopsis
From the author of Courting Mr. Lincoln comes a different kind of Christmas story featuring a grown up Tiny Tim, this breathless flight through the teeming markets, shadowy passageways, and rolling brown fog of 1860s London would do Dickens proud for its surprising twists and turns, and its extraordinary heart.
It's the Christmas season, and Mr. Timothy Cratchit, not the pious child the world thought he was, has just buried his father. He's also struggling to bury his past as a cripple and shed his financial ties to his benevolent "Uncle" Ebenezer by losing himself in the thick of London's underbelly. He boards at a brothel in exchange for teaching the mistress how to read and spends his nights dredging the Thames for dead bodies and the treasures in their pockets.
Timothy's life takes a sharp turn when he discovers the bodies of two dead girls, each seared with the same cruel brand on the upper arm. The sight of their horror-struck faces compels Timothy to become the protector of another young girl, Philomela, from the fate the others suffered at the hands of a dangerous and powerful man.
Synopsis
A reimagining of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from the monsters perspective, Hyde makes a hero of a villain.
Synopsis
A New York Times Editors’ Choice and one of the Washington Post’s 5 Best Thrillers of the Year
“[A] knockout debut novel . . . As dark and twisted and alluring as the night-cloaked streets of nineteenth-century London, and this book is as much a fascinating psychological query as it is a gripping narrative.” —Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon
Summoned to life by strange potions, Hyde knows not when or how long he will have control of “the body.” When dormant, he watches Dr. Jekyll from a remove, conscious of this other, high-class life but without influence. As the experiment continues, their mutual existence is threatened, not only by the uncertainties of untested science, but also by a mysterious stalker. Hyde is being taunted—possibly framed. Girls have gone missing; someone has been killed. Who stands watching in the shadows? In the blur of this shared consciousness, can Hyde ever be confident these crimes were not committed by his hand?
“A pleasure . . . Rich in gloomy, moody atmosphere (Levine’s London has a brutal steampunk quality), and its narrator’s plight is genuinely poignant.” —New York Times Book Review
About the Author
Louis Bayard is a novelist and reviewer whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Nerve.com, and Salon.com. He lives in Washington, D.C.