Includes Matthew Pearl's exclusive audio afterword on the truth behind Poe's death!
Baltimore, 1849: the body of Edgar Allan Poe has been buried in an unmarked grave. Everyone seems to accept the conclusion that Poe was a second-rate writer who met a disgraceful end—except for a young Baltimore lawyer named Quentin Clark, an ardent admirer who puts his own career and reputation at risk in a crusade to salvage Poe's.
As Quentin explores the puzzling circumstances and unanswered questions of Poe's demise, he realizes that he must find the one person who can help: the real-life model for Poe's brilliant fictional detective character, C. Augustine Dupin, the hero of ingenious tales of crime and detection. Soon Quentin finds himself enmeshed in sinister machinations involving international political agents and the lost secrets of Poe's final hours. If Quentin is to escape Poe's grisly fate, he must become a master investigator himself.
Drawing on original, groundbreaking research, the bestselling author of The Dante Club has once again crossed literary history with sublime craftsmanship and devious twists to create a beautifully detailed, ingeniously plotted tale of suspense.
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"Maybe I'm slightly biased since I'm a huge Poe fan to begin with. But I would have to say that the combination of Erik Singer's narration along with the story which Matthew Pearl devised surrounding some of the real-life events leading up to the death of Poe are the two biggest reasons I rated this book 5 stars. Pearl also provided a short explanation at the end which discussed some of the actual events, persons and places (also in the story) and again, left me thinking about some of the unanswered questions of what truly happened to Poe--to whom we can thank for the "detective fiction." I feel that Pearl did great justice in his novel and although it's been some time since I've read any of Poe's work, the writing style seemed to me to follow along that of Poe's. Also, the descriptions/narratives really seemed to bring the time-period to life, more than I have seen in other historical works of fiction. This is a book that I think at some point I would like to own a hard copy of and re-read parts of it again."
— Keri (5 out of 5 stars)
“Poe would have liked it.”
— Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel“[An] enticing second novel.”
— Bloomberg Press“Singer provides Clark with a splendidly appropriate voice: young, intelligent, yet naïve and idealistic.”
— Publishers Weekly (audio review)“[A] masterful blend of historical and fictional figures, meticulous research, and nineteenth-century literary style.”
— Booklist“Pearl demonstrates a clear mastery of Poe mythology and uses his knowledge of 1850s Baltimore to excellent effect.”
— Library Journal“The Poe Shadow is an entertaining tale of ratiocination that would make Poe himself proud.”
— BookPage“Reads like a true story…enough mystery to make any Poe fan, Poe himself for that matter, proud.”
— Canadian Press" An intensely riveting, psychological, historical portrayal of a man who becomes so obsessed with Poe's life and death that he seemingly becomes the writer himself. Pearl does a fantastic job of mimicking Poe's theory of ratiocination throughout the text disguised as stream of consciousness. "
— Yeti, 2/19/2014" Fascinating, enjoyable read. Fiction, but based on mysterious death of Edgar Allen Poe. "
— Shauna, 2/18/2014" I am a big Poe fan so I had looked forward to reading this and I so wanted to like it, but I could not believe how poorly written it was, it was very disappointing, a total waste of precious reading time. It seemed like the first novel of a very inexperienced writer instead of a supposedly accomplished one (I haven't read The Dante Club yet and I am hesitant to do so now). "
— Robert, 2/17/2014" Complicated and too improbable. "
— Rita, 2/17/2014" A great read for anyone who likes Poe "
— Jennifer, 1/17/2014" I've always been a fan of Poe so when I ran across this book, I had to read it. I had already read "The Dante Club" by Matthew Pearl and loved it, so was excited to read this one, and was not disappointed! "
— Jennifer, 1/6/2014" Not as good as Pearl's Dante Club, but still pretty clever and engaging. Meandered a bit, but enjoyable nonetheless. "
— Mel, 1/6/2014" Pearl is a fine writer but this story was pretty slow to start. I think I was almost 100 pages in before it really caught my attention. Still, I loved the speculations about Poe's demise. This was always a morbid fascination of mine. "
— Adonna, 1/2/2014" I enjoyed this but it is supposed to be a thriller and it isn't all that thrilling. If you are a Poe fiend you might love this. I didn't know that there was so much mystery surrounding his death. "
— Matt, 12/1/2013" why did i finish this book??? "
— Donnaelrick, 9/15/2013" Funny how an ending can make - or in this case - unmake a book. I loved Dante Club but was a little disappointed by the rambling end to this one. "
— Kate, 6/25/2013" I abandoned this, due to boredom and exhaustion. You have to be a die-hard Poe fan to enjoy this one! "
— Alison, 5/2/2013" this was a bit of a dissapointment after his awesome job with the dante club. I hope his next one lives up to the promise of the first one. "
— Carmen, 3/28/2013" Read it on a plane. it was not good. Oh well... "
— Ryan, 11/29/2012" I was largely disappointed with this book. It lacked a climax and seemed to drag on for all 508 pages. "
— Wiki.writes, 8/12/2012" Started off with great potential, but the story got bogged down at some point. "
— Brent, 7/25/2012" sometimes it just need a simple thinking "
— Nura, 7/23/2012" Go with Louis Bayard's The Pale Blue Eye. "
— Elizabeth, 10/1/2011" The Poe Shadow may just be the latest cure for insomnia! "
— Jessica, 8/23/2011" I admire the fact that Pearl performed literary archeology and provided the reader with new insights into Poe's curious demise. However, the book could have been half as long and twice as impactful and I had a difficult time sympathizing with the voice of the narrator. "
— Jeana, 5/15/2011" It seemed to be well researched, although I know very little about Edgar Allen Poe myself. However, the characterization and details of Baltimore and Paris seemed to ring true. Mostly, though, it was difficult to get through, even boring in some places. It did pick up towards the end. "
— Lavonne, 3/24/2011" As mysterious and OCD as a Poe story. "
— Sschnitker, 3/13/2011" The plot moved like molasses in January in Alaska. The characters are unbelievable, unlikable, and pretentious. The narrator had lost all credibility about halfway through. Half of my book club didn't finish the book. Only one of us liked it. The ending is trite and unbelievable. <br/> "
— Lacie, 3/7/2011" It was alright. I prefer Matthew Pearl's other book way more! Loved the "Dante's Club." "
— Praggya, 2/2/2011" The beginning of this book was not sufficiently interesting to warrant finishing the book. Except for The Dante Club, I've found this to be the case with Pearl's other books. "
— Christy, 1/23/2011" Basta yavas ilerliyor ve hiçbir sey anlatmiyor gibi görünse de sonlara dogru biraz heyecan vermeye basladi. Sonu bekledigim kadar aydinlatici olmasa da fena bir kitap degil. "
— Gozde, 1/21/2011Matthew Pearl is an author whose novels have been international and New York Times bestsellers translated into more than thirty languages. The Taking of Jemima Boone is his nonfiction debut. His nonfiction articles have appeared in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, The Atavist Magazine, and Slate. He has been chosen best author for Boston Magazine's Best of Boston and received the Massachusetts Book Award for Fiction.
Erik Singer’s theatrical credits include the title role in The Hostage (off Broadway), A Life in the Theatre, Greetings!, and national tours of Othello and The Taming of the Shrew. He has also appeared on All My Children and As the World Turns, and was the voice of Vincent van Gogh in the A&E Biography about Van Gogh and Gauguin. His audiobook narration has twice won him the AudioFile Earphones Award.