Customer Reviews

Fata Morgana (Black Swan)

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... in 1861, Detective Paul Picard, of the Paris Police, is hot on the trail of Baron Mantes, who has a penchant for murdering young wmoen and leaving their decapitated bodies at the scene of the crime. Recovering from his most recent run-in with the Baron, from which Picard emerges decidedly the worse for wear, he attends a party given by a wealthy and mysterious immigrant named Ric Lazare, of dubious origins, and his fabulously beautiful wife, Renee Lazare. The party is attended by all of upper-class Paris and the draw is a fortune-telling machine which holds all the guests mesmerized. Invited into a private room which holds the famous machine, Picard finds himself hurled headlong into a web of gypsy magic, murder, seduction and mystery that leads him through Germany to Austria, the Hungarian steppes, and back to Paris, to confront his fate before the fortune telling machine. His fortune, Fata Morgana, is, like Ric and Renee Lazare, a shimmering mirage, irresistable, unknowable, and ultimately unreachable; one can only accept it as it is. Kotzwinkle has woven a magical story that holds us entranced to the very last page.

Perhaps this is the story Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would have penned were he apprehended at a circus performance and dispatched straight to his typewriter. Fata Morgana is a solid mystery with fantasy elements that elevate it from sleuth versus villain into an enigmatic and elusive tale tinged with Gypsy mystery, parlor games and extortionist magic.

Inspector Picard, career descending and body weight ascending, is on the trail of Ric Lazare who is bilking high-society members out of considerable cash. Ric Lazare possesses a machine that foretells the future, but this alone does not explain his hold on those in his circle of influence. Picard investigates with the intention of exposing the salon scam of a medium and his costly advice, instead, he encounters the unknown - Black Magic, Grand Bewitching, the creations of a German toy maker, and a nagging foreshadowing of events, particularly his own demise. Picard's sleuthing takes him through Nuremberg, Budapest and Old-World Paris and everything Picard discovers lays in shadows, echoes and reflections. Discovering the background and identity of Ric Lazare (and his stunning wife, Renee, who has Paris bewitched) is what keeps the reader turning the pages. Clues come from:

1.) The mysterious death a priest. 2.) A half-Paleolithic family on a one-way forest trail somewhere on the steppes of Eastern Hungary. 3.) A hashish smoking Chief of Police. (The smoke is rather strong...occasionally it renders me unconscious.) 4.) A gifted toy maker, his evil apprentice, and ultimately the toys themselves, which are "much finer than men and much worse." 5.) A library in Paris where a volume of century old letters and diary excerpts reveal the true, yet impossible, identity of Ric Lazare and his wife Renee.

Kotzwinkle adds amusing sensuality to his descriptions of Nineteenth century Paris. (1861) What other capital would throw a party for the Great Whores of the City? The description of this party and the sauced satyr, Count Cherubini, who hosts it are worth the read alone. Extravagant debauchery Old-World style.

Kotzwinkle includes several zestful scenes between Inspector Picard and the ladies - a prostitute, an enchantress, and a woman in a tavern whom he seduces by hiring a gypsy Cymbolom player to envelop her in aural foreplay. Picard is quite the ladies man and these scenes show that while he may be an old dog, the learning of new tricks isn't necessary if the old ones are masterfully performed!

William Kotzwinkle has managed to blend all the right elements together in Fata Morgana. An enchanting story of a Parisian detective and his quest to learn the true identity of a mountebank who entertains at great cost the idle aristicracy. Like all good fantasy stories there is a sense of wonder throughout, a desperate quest, a bit of magic, and lively characters that stay with the reader long after the book is put down. Even a certain cliche is rendered with new breath on the final pages.

I keep buying this book and buying it - for other people. The surest sign of my affection for someone is that I lend them this book - or buy it for them.

I also read it again from time to time. It is intricate enough to reveal new secrets with each reading.

Let your fingers do the walking ... right to the order and checkout buttons! Do not miss this incredible literary feast.

Richly written; lush characters and a true twist and turn plot will keep you turning the pages all night! Kotzwinkle's work is true genius. In a word -- EXCELLENT!

Kotzwinkle is one of the most lyrical writers around, and this book is one of his best. Fata Morgana is a true magical mystery tour, richly textured and fraught with surprises. It's great to see it back in print.

An enigmatic and mysterious charmer is the toast of Parisian society in the late 19th century. He can tell people their future, and is very handsomely rewarded for it. Who is this man and his hypnotic wife who have Paris at their feet? Inspector Picard, past his prime and getting weary, looks into what is likely a very clever con. The investigation leads him on a journey through Europe, and into the darkest villages in Eastern Europe. Throughout, the impression of a simple con grows, until the presence of a very deep evil hovers throughout the story.

It is a journey to another world, and the ending is an absolutely brilliant twist on an old plot device. I just sat back at the end of the book, and thought "wow."

How this missed being made into a film , I will never know. It's a stunning work of mystery, exoticism and great plotting.

-- if you cannot enjoy this book, you're already old.