*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher *
Author: Steven Price
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 752
Format: DRC
ISBN-10: 0374160538
ISBN-13: 9780374160531
Original title:
Publisher: eBook | Hardcover | Audiobook
This book caught my interest immediately. Pinkerton's, Scotland Yard, Victorian London and a big mystery to be solved.
The first chapters introduces most of the characters in quick succession. Though a lot of them get a clear position I had a hard time keeping them apart making the story confusing. The chapters vary between the story of Adam Foole and William Pinkerton. The difference between their voices is not that big, it often took me half a paragraph to figure out who was the narrator of that chapter. The chapters switch between past and present too. Explaining the background of the relationship between Shade and the old Pinkerton. Foole and Shade. Foole and his companions. This information was very valuable for the story but often disturbed my reading flow making it a bit of a struggle getting trough 752 pages.
What made up for that slow pace was the atmosphere of the story. Victorian London was jumping right of the pages huddling the reader in the mist walking under gaslit streets not knowing what was happening in the shadows. I read part of the book on my summer vacation next to a swimming pool but even the sun could not prevent me from feeling the chill of the London rain when described in the story.
The characters are interesting too. Partly based on real persons but given their own fictional ghosts.
I loved Molly, she was very witty and active and I would have loved to see this whole adventure trough her eyes. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Foole and Pinkerton too. They have this idea about the other person and they find out that they both are not what they were thinking. Their disappointment is really palpable in the story and it was fun to read.
I know a lot of you out there do not mind the character filled slow stories and love a good mystery and would really enjoy reading this book.
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Pages: 752
Format: DRC
ISBN-10: 0374160538
ISBN-13: 9780374160531
Original title:
Publisher: eBook | Hardcover | Audiobook
London, 1885. In a city of fog and darkness, the notorious thief Edward Shade exists only as a ghost, a fabled con, a thief of other men's futures -- a man of smoke. William Pinkerton is already famous, the son of a brutal detective, when he descends into the underworld of Victorian London in pursuit of a new lead. His father died without ever tracing Shade; William, still reeling from his loss, is determined to drag the thief out of the shadows. Adam Foole is a gentleman without a past, haunted by a love affair ten years gone. When he receives a letter from his lost beloved, he returns to London in search of her; what he learns of her fate, and its connection to the man known as Shade, will force him to confront a grief he thought long-buried.
This book caught my interest immediately. Pinkerton's, Scotland Yard, Victorian London and a big mystery to be solved.
The first chapters introduces most of the characters in quick succession. Though a lot of them get a clear position I had a hard time keeping them apart making the story confusing. The chapters vary between the story of Adam Foole and William Pinkerton. The difference between their voices is not that big, it often took me half a paragraph to figure out who was the narrator of that chapter. The chapters switch between past and present too. Explaining the background of the relationship between Shade and the old Pinkerton. Foole and Shade. Foole and his companions. This information was very valuable for the story but often disturbed my reading flow making it a bit of a struggle getting trough 752 pages.
What made up for that slow pace was the atmosphere of the story. Victorian London was jumping right of the pages huddling the reader in the mist walking under gaslit streets not knowing what was happening in the shadows. I read part of the book on my summer vacation next to a swimming pool but even the sun could not prevent me from feeling the chill of the London rain when described in the story.
The characters are interesting too. Partly based on real persons but given their own fictional ghosts.
I loved Molly, she was very witty and active and I would have loved to see this whole adventure trough her eyes. I really enjoyed the chemistry between Foole and Pinkerton too. They have this idea about the other person and they find out that they both are not what they were thinking. Their disappointment is really palpable in the story and it was fun to read.
I know a lot of you out there do not mind the character filled slow stories and love a good mystery and would really enjoy reading this book.
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