City of Dark Hearts [Import] [Mass Market Paperback]

James Conan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008

A dark and exciting historical novel that is both an adventure story and a powerful rendering of 1890s Chicago.

When young, inexperienced but very ambitious female reporter, Emily Strauss, blags her way into newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer’s office, she comes away with a treacherous assignment: to discover what happened to Anna Zemeckis, one of many women who have disappeared during the 1893 World’s Fair. Chicago is a place of dangerous contrasts. Among all the glitz and rassmatazz of the Fair itself and the spectacular wealth and influence of a new middle class elite, Emily comes face to face with a sinister underworld.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Now writing as James Conan, William Horwood and Helen Rappaport are both established authors. William Horwood was a city and feature editor with the Daily Mail until, in 1978, he wrote the first of his now classic Duncton Chronicles which became instant international bestsellers. His wide-ranging books since include his critically acclaimed memoir The Boy with No Shoes. William has been married three times, has six children and now lives in Oxford. Helen Rappaport studied Russian at university and for many years worked as an actress in TV and films before turning to historical writing in the early 1990s. She is the author of books on Joseph Stalin, Queen Victoria and the award-winning An Encyclopedia of Women Social Reformers, as well as being a specialist in 19th-century women's history.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 560 pages
• Publisher: Arrow (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099502178
• ISBN-13: 978-0099502173
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 1.4 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,880,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent thriller with unique historical accuracy, January 23, 2009

By 

M. Holdrege (airports all over the world) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: City of Dark Hearts (Mass Market Paperback)

As a Chicago native, who knows the history pretty well, and a lover of English literature, this book was a serendipitous find for me at a Heathrow bookshop. I didn't read the preface before the story, so I was later amazed that an English couple fooled me into thinking they were a single Chicago author. As I read their "interview" in the end of the book, I could see that Helen is a serious historical researcher. Well she did her job well and so did William. Their teamwork is also a very unique aspect that perhaps helps make this book the success that it is.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good hefty read that you won't want to put down., July 4, 2008

By 

Helen Simpson (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: City of Dark Hearts (Mass Market Paperback)

This novel has a lot going for it. Historically interesting it really brings the Chicago of 1893 alive. From the stinking Bubbly Creek and industrial Union Stock Yard to the glitter of the World Fair. The characters are fictional apart from one or two big names of the time, but each character was so well described and had such personality that I could easily have believed they were all real.

The story itself plots the lives of two young girls; Emily Strauss a journalist on her first major job, and Anna Zemeckis. There's a good pace throughout as we're left with cliff hangers at the end of chapters urging you to keep the bedside light on for a little while longer. It was hard to believe that the events all occurred during eight days in October though - I felt like I'd been living with the characters for at least a couple of months!

So overall a good combination of mystery, history and horror (the idea of 'Dunning' certainly fulfilled my idea of horror!) with the unique backdrop of the successful city of Chicago.
The authors, William Horwood and Helen Rappaport explain at the back of the book what inspired the story and the characters which was really interesting and left me wanting to find out more about the time and the newspaper 'Stunt Girls'.

This is the first book featuring Emily Strauss and I'm looking forward to reading the next.