⋙ Read Gratis The Black Tower Louis Bayard 9780061173509 Books

The Black Tower Louis Bayard 9780061173509 Books

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The Black Tower Louis Bayard 9780061173509 Books

This is the first book I've read by this author. WOW. I am coming back for more. It took it camping and completely forgot about enjoying the great outdoors - this book had me glued. THE BLACK TOWER has it all - history, adventure, roques, kings, mystery, murder, secrets...all in the fascinating setting of early 19th century France. I highly recommend this book if you like a good mystery set in an historical setting. The characters are well-developed, often humorous. The "detective" Vidocq (based on a real person) is unforgettable.

For parents: references to prostitution, torture, extramarital sex, oblique reference to homosexual sex, some swearing, one MINIMALLY graphic sex scene. Vulgar references to bodily functions, some swearing. If it were a movie it would be rated PG-13.


Tags : The Black Tower [Louis Bayard] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. From Louis Bayard, the acclaimed author of <em>Mr. Timothy</em> and <em>The Pale Blue Eye, </em> comes <em>The Black Tower,Louis Bayard,The Black Tower,William Morrow,0061173509,Historical - General,Detective and mystery stories.,France;History;19th century;Fiction.,France;Kings and rulers;Fiction.,1775-1857,19th century,AMERICAN HISTORICAL FICTION,AMERICAN MYSTERY & SUSPENSE FICTION,Detective and mystery stories,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Mystery & Detective Historical,Fiction,Fiction - Mystery Detective,Fiction-Coming of Age,Fiction-Mystery & Detective,France,GENERAL,General Adult,History,Mystery & Detective - Historical,MysterySuspense,United States,Vidocq, Eugáene Franðcois,

The Black Tower Louis Bayard 9780061173509 Books Reviews

Graphic in description and creative in overall execution, The Black Tower follows the voice of a young medical student who finds himself pulled from his humble life into a murder investigation that involves the death of an unknown man who is curiously found with the name of the young student on his person. In 1818 Paris murder is common enough in the seamy alleys but when confronted with not only the scrawled name but the additional evidence that the deceased was tortured well that certainly will not do. It is up to the brilliant yet unconventional Inspector Vidocq to discover the motive behind such a baffling crime and with our narrator in tow they soon race into a tangled web of deceit, conspiracies and the chance to rewrite history.

For this reader, The Black Tower was an energetic rendition of history that immediately grabbed my attention and appealed to my love of a good conspiracy and political intrigue filled novel. Being more comfortable with recognizing the late 18th-century historic events mentioned, I was vaguely familiar with the early 19th-century French history so it was a great opportunity to learn a new era of history and research the French monarchy and military history as I read. The intricate weaving of passages pertaining to the mysterious events that occurred in a locked room in a tower in 1795 and how they played a crucial part in this novel only added to my list of positives as unsolved questions were explored and expanded in the storyline. Although entertaining this novel did venture into the modern tone a few times with anachronistic terms and crass unexpected phrases that pulled this reader from the story. A few characters were a bit flat with lost potential and scenes toward the end seemed to blur together. There were also a few plot holes in this book that never closed for this reader and finally the mystery and collection of clues seemed forced and too convenient at times. Overall, not a bad selection for a rainy day and I may read another novel by this author. I would recommend The Black Tower to those who enjoy reading about the dark side of history, love a murder mystery and can stomach graphic descriptions of human misery and abuse. This novel may not be for everyone but its energetic batting with the idea of "what if" of historical events may be worth your time.
Hear the name Sherlock Holmes, and you think "world's greatest detective", right? Hear the name Vidocq and you think... well, I don't know what you think, but I didn't have any immediate associations with the name. Perhaps if I'd been French I might have, for it appears that Vidocq is France's answer to Sherlock Holmes, except that Vidocq lived and worked much earlier in the 19th century than Holmes, and Vidocq was a real person, not a beloved fictional character.

In fact many people credit Eugene Francois Vidocq with being the world's first great professional detective. Poe and Balzac are said to have modeled their fictional detectives after him. Vidocq learned to be savvy about tracking down criminals in France because he himself was a convicted criminal and had served several criminal sentences, including a brutal sentence on the French convict ships before he finally negotiated a deal to serve as a police spy. His surveillance techniques were so successful that Vidocq created the first plain clothes detective force, forming the Surete in France. Vidocq's crack team of detectives, most of whom were also former criminals, made a huge dent in crime in France from 1812-1832.

All that is interesting fact. Equally gripping, however, is the fictional account of Vidocq that I just read in a wonderful new novel by Louis Bayard entitled The Black Tower. This is one of those intriguing stories that incorporate real people from history into fiction. In this case, Vidocq is investigating the death of man who had been tortured and killed most brutally. In the dead man's pocket is a name and address Dr. Hector Carpentier, No. 18, Rue-Neuve-Sainte-Genevieve . When Vidocq tracks down Hector he discovers a timid, unimaginative student of medicine, who is utterly bewildered as to why his name would be in the pocket of a dead man he did not know.

Yet as the story masterfully unfolds, we learn that the murdered man was hiding a secret that could affect the French monarchy during the shaky period of the Restoration, following the death of Napoleon. Could it be that the young Dauphin, Louis-Charles, the son of the executed Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette did not die in the infamous Black Tower in 1795 but was instead alive and in hiding in 1818?. If still alive, the Dauphin, who after the death of his father would be titled Louis XVII, should be the rightful king, not his uncle, the reigning Louis XVIII .

The Black Tower is loaded with vivid period detail, but that in no way slows the breakneck, breathless pace of the narrative. Vidocq is everywhere at once, hurling insults and landing powerful punches with equal aplomb. The result is a wonderful romp, with dark overtones, exploring the underbelly of France's criminal world, including both aristocrats and republicans. Although the work is fiction, it does quite a bit to explain the complicated morass of kings and rulers who followed the ill-fated Louis XVI. Bayard's earlier book Mr. Timothy did a great job of turning the iconic Tiny Tim on his head; this new novel does much to promote the almost mythical career of the remarkable Vidocq.
This is the first book I've read by this author. WOW. I am coming back for more. It took it camping and completely forgot about enjoying the great outdoors - this book had me glued. THE BLACK TOWER has it all - history, adventure, roques, kings, mystery, murder, secrets...all in the fascinating setting of early 19th century France. I highly recommend this book if you like a good mystery set in an historical setting. The characters are well-developed, often humorous. The "detective" Vidocq (based on a real person) is unforgettable.

For parents references to prostitution, torture, extramarital sex, oblique reference to homosexual sex, some swearing, one MINIMALLY graphic sex scene. Vulgar references to bodily functions, some swearing. If it were a movie it would be rated PG-13.