The Poe Shadow

Written by:
Matthew Pearl
Narrated by:
Erik Singer

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
23
Narrator
1
Release Date
May 2006
Duration
14 hours 42 minutes
Summary
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, and must himself turn master investigator to escape Poe's grisly fate.

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.
Reviews
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Anonymous

I enjoy historical fiction so I probably liked this more than most. However, there just isn't enough mystery surrounding Poe's death to warrant an entire novel. The ending was quite anti-climatic. Pearl tried to generate more mystery and thrills than actually exist, but it never really went anywhere. I also never really cared that much about the narrator. Though I admire Pearl's attempt at creating a riveting historical mystery, he never really succeeded.

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Nancy

I just couldn't figure out what was going on: not the main character's motivation, the point of his obsession, who was who and what was what. It was just a garbled mess.

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Sterling, VA

This book is a talking head book, meaning that characters talk to each other and little else goes on. It was flat and boring. I could barely make it through the 6th disk when I finally admitted that I couldn't stand one more second of the slow plot or the pedantic writing style.

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Anonymous

Wordy, obviously intended to evoke style of mid 1800 American writing. Not certain if the story failed to really draw me in due to the archaic style or the narrator's pleasant but somewhat flat delivery. Found myself irritated with the protagonist rather than sympathetic. Wound up not really understanding the author's choice of subject. Poe's fate just not that engrossing after this read.

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