Customer Reviews

Lucifer's Shadow

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It was but a few short months ago that David Hewson was reintroduced to American readers with A SEASON FOR THE DEAD, the first of a projected series of novels featuring Italian State Police detective Nic Costa. The second novel in the series, THE VILLA OF MYSTERIES, has already seen European publication and is scheduled for American release next year. Hewson has a bit of a backlist that has not seen publication here. The issuance of LUCIFER'S SHADOW only a few months after A SEASON FOR THE DEAD is a welcome and important step toward remedying that literary shortfall, while constituting a blessing for readers who, with one novel, had become enthralled with Hewson's intricate plotting, and intelligent and literary narration.

LUCIFER'S SHADOW consists of two stories, both of which are set in Venice but separated in time by almost three centuries. The events of the past dovetail into those of the present, with parallels that surprise, astound, shock and delight. A printer's apprentice in 18th-century Venice is drawn into a web of duplicity, jealousy and murder that centers on a brilliant orchestral work created by an anonymous composer, who is in fact a Jewess. Her nationality and gender compel her to keep her background and identity a secret, but also leave her vulnerable to blackmail.

In present-day Venice, meanwhile, an English student named Daniel Forster has accepted a summer job that ostensibly involves cataloguing a private collector's library. Forster soon discovers, however, that his job and his employer are not what they initially seemed to be. Forster is in fact to be the go-between for his employer with a petty thief who has acquired an antique violin, a prize that is also sought by the shadowy Hugo Massiter, a wealthy and ruthless figure whose life is shrouded in fear and rumor. Forster's retrieval of the violin serves as the catalyst for a star-crossed romance with Laura, the household's servant, whose haunting beauty slowly and inexorably brings Forster under her hesitant sway. The acquisition of the violin, and the discovery of an abandoned musical manuscript, also provides the catalyst for a succession of violent acts that lead all concerned toward certain destruction.

The two tales alternate chapters, for the most part, with Hewson keeping things moving at a deceptively sedate pace. He is no particular hurry to reach either denouement, yet everything is set forth with purpose. Hewson's research for this book is magnificent, as it was for A SEASON FOR THE DEAD. The reader is transported across space and time in this work, which demonstrates that the elements, good and bad, that make up the human condition remain constant, even with the tolling of the centuries. The parallels between both of the stories in LUCIFER'S SHADOW is presented subtlely, and when they converge for a brief moment, it is all the more startling for the presentation.

Delacorte Press has somewhat defied conventional wisdom by publishing two works by a new (to these shores) author within a few months of each other. This was no doubt done with the knowledge that anyone who had read A SEASON FOR THE DEAD would welcome more Hewson, and welcome it immediately. For myself, it would be fine if every month brought the arrival of a new Hewson novel. There is no one who is doing this type of work --- work that by turns has echoes of Christie, Dickens, O. Henry and even Poe on each page, and yet is unshakably contemporary and unmistakably Hewson. LUCIFER'S SHADOW, set in different time periods, is itself a timeless work, a classic. Highest possible recommendation.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Lucifer's Shadow is a very well-written thriller. Hewson evokes Venice masterfully, and shows great skill in interweaving his parallel plots and parallel characters.

I have a couple of reservations about the book, which is why I'm giving it four stars instead of five. The explanation of what was behind everything that happened in the present-day story was a bit implausible: the more I think about it, the less it seems to hang together. Also, some of the violent acts that take place in the book are described in too much gruesome detail. A good writer (and Hewson is one) should have been able to establish that his villain is a despicable sadist without having to resort to such lurid descriptions of his sadistic acts.

However, those reservations marred my enjoyment of the book only slightly. If you're looking for a cross between Donna Leon's Inspector Brunetti mysteries and Daphne Du Maurier's Don't Look Now (there's a nice, fleeting reference to the movie version of Don't Look Now, as if Hewson were tipping his hat to a source of inspiration), then Lucifer's Shadow is the book for you.

Moving swiftly between tow subplots that are set three centuries apart (one subplot is set in 1700s Venice, while the other is in modern day Venice), and both focusing on the music world of both eras, David Hewson weaves another brilliantly gripping and mesmerizing tale of intrigue, deception and murder.

A young Oxford academic, Daniel Foster is thrilled to be in Venice, esp since he's being paid a small stipend by Signor Scacchi to catalogue his library. Scacchi desperately hopes that Daniel will find some lost treasure that will replenish the ailing old man's much depleted coffers. What Daniel finds is a lost masterpiece for violin and orchestra. Excited, Scacchi comes up with a plan to fully exploit this find, a plan that will put Daniel firmly in the center of a maelstrom of deception, intrigue and murder, and that will bring him to the notice of the sinister and powerful antiques dealer, Hugh Massiter...

Cut to 1733, where another young man, Lorenzo Scacchi, has come to Venice (upon the death of his parents) in order to work for his uncle, a well respected printer. It is the era of Canaletto and Vivaldi, and through his uncle, young Lorenzo finds himself rubbing elbows with the artists, the eccentric rich, and the beautiful and talented Rebecca. A musical prodigy, Rebecca (who is a Jew) is willing to break Venetian law that forbids her to play with Vivaldi (in a church) and after curfew, and the wholly smitten Lorenzo finds himself completely willing to help her escape all the social constraints placed on her in spite of the cost to the both of them (and their families) if they are found out! As both subplots of "Lucifer's Shadow" progress, it soon becomes evident both Daniel and Lorenzo are navigating the same path between treachery and honour; and as the intrigue and deception deepens ,it also becomes readily evident that the stakes are not so much survival as the price of one's soul...

"Lucifer's Shadow" made for a truly absorbing read. The mysteries are many (from an old murder case of a young violinist, to the Scacchis and their connection to the violin piece that Daniel finds, to the sinister Hugh Massiter and his connection with everything), so that any lover of mystery and intrigue novels will be happily absorbed throughout. The pacing was swift and the descriptions of Venice (both in the 1700s & modern day) were lyrical and vivid. As for the manner in which the authour brought both subplots together, that was brilliantly done and rather clever. All in all, "Lucifer's Shadow" was a haunting and mesmerising novel, suspenseful and completely compelling.

Venice, 1733 - A young Jewish violinist violates Venitian law and custom to perform with Vivaldi at La Pietà. But her ambition is larger, and she risks everything to have her own music, revealed anonymously, performed. The concerto is a resounding success, but greedy men prevent her from claiming the accolades she's due. In the ensuing struggle, the score for her composition is lost...

Venice, today - Daniel Forster arrives in Venice to catalog an old man's library. In the process, he unearths a long-lost anonymous concerto, setting in motion another chain of tragedy. Caught up in a scheme to profit from the find, he finds himself cast in the unlikely role of composer. As he is pulled ever further into the intrigue, he struggles to protect his friends and save his own life.

Well written, with complex and believable characters, these twin stories alternate as they progress down parallel paths. The past and present overlap, with surprising consequences. This is a wonderful tale, with beautiful and loving descriptions of both the city and the music. The use of Tintoretto's "Temptation of Christ" as a metaphor for the choices we make is especially powerful, and helps fuel the underlying themes of the book. With a wonderful setting, interesting characters, and a plot so full of twists it keeps you guessing right to the very end, what more could you ask for in a book?

I'll admit I was drawn to the book simply by the title and an interesting concept. And as it began I thought, briefly, that I may not enjoy the book at all. But that quickly turned, and as a result, I found this to be one of the best books I have ever read. A wonderful job is done of mixing the historic and modern stories, and it only appears to be predictable, when in fact, Hewson throws in a mix of twists and turns that leave you eager to read on. Well written, well thought out, and a definite page turner.

In 1733 Lorenzo Scacchi comes to Venice to work for his uncle at Ca' Scacchi printing press. Excited by the prospect of the big city, he immediately falls under the spell of the beautiful capital. Things are going well until his uncle assigns Lorenzo to chaperone a gifted violinist who must hide her identity or face condemnation. Lorenzo obeys, but quickly finds the deception is turning from dangerous to fascinating to deadly.

Two and half centuries later, Englishman Daniel Forster obtains summer employment cataloguing a library in the Ca' Scacchi. Excited by the prospect of Austria, he immediately falls under the spell of the beautiful capital. As he performs his duties, Daniel finds an anonymously written eighteenth-century concerto. That "treasure" leads to his involvement in a con that could turn from dangerous to fascinating to deadly.

David Hewson provides a fascinating look at Venice two-hundred fifty years apart in this exciting thriller spread centuries apart. The story line contains two plots that ultimately merge, but are also a two-edged sword as at times it is difficult to keep track of what is happening. Still the beauty of the city past and present comes to life inside the twin tales of intrigue and corruption bringing down the innocent.

Harriet Klausner

Other reviewers have done a nice job summarizing plot and characterization in Lucifer's Shadow, and I'll just add that I found the parallel mysteries intriguing. This book is a departure from Hewson's Nic Costa series, and shows that he is a very literate author. Lucifer is more novel than genre mystery, and Hewson has skillfully incorporated much local color and accurate historical detail, successfully bringing beautiful, mysterious Venice and its inhabitants to vivid life.

On the second floor of the Scuola di San Rocco, Tintoretto's painting of the Temptation of Christ affords English academic Daniel Forster a glimpse of reality Venetian style. The painting's focal point is not Christ, but the devil. The devil wears no horns nor sports a pointed tail; he is attractive and extremely alluring. This seemingly benign appeal, Daniel discovers augurs the spell the city has yet to cast upon him, adequately mirrors the human avarice of all the novel's players and offers a bit of a biblical metaphor for the events of this partial police procedural/battle between good and evil.

From the moment he arrives to catalogue the library of the ancient Scacchi family he is surrounded by its eclectic members entrenched in their own whacky sophistication-a sophistication that camouflages needs and desires that are as corrupt and beautiful as any old palazzo crumbling into the Grand canal, When he finds the manuscript of a brilliant violin concerto written during the time of the maestro Vivaldi, he suddenly knows what it is like to be Tintoretto's Christ and to mistakenly turn the devil's stones into bread.. When his employer asks him to buy a priceless black market violin, and pretend that he is the author of the found manuscript, Daniel feels he is about to fling himself off that temple wall and prays that the foretold angels will break his fall. Ultimately, Daniel sees the devil for what he is, and instead of accepting the wealth of all the kingdoms of the world, he saves his own soul and the souls of a two beautiful women seduced by the magic of the violin concerto and the world of power and music that brings such beauty to the life in an otherwise corrupt world..

Juxtaposed with Daniel's story are the letters of 19th century Lorenzo Scacchi, another tempted Christ who knows first-hand the secret of the violin concerto, the mysterious violin and the lovely Jewess caught in a web of intolerance where her genius must go unrecognized and her spirit remain trapped forever in both a real and metaphysical ghetto.

As Daniel becomes more aware of his role in this ancient drama and emerges triumphant to conquer his devil, Lorenzo reveals his own very human desires, and succumbs to that which he fears the most.

Hewson does a wonderful job of recreating that mystery of corrupt sophistication that so intrigue all visitors to La Serenissima. His descriptions of the Jewish ghetto and the worldy resignation of its inhabitants horrify almost as much as his denouement of both characters and the woman in their lives thrills.

I really enjoyed "A Season for the Dead" and thought I would really like this book as well. Unfortuantely I was kind of dissapointed. It's a good story, but the charachters really seemed to lack something, and I had a little trouble keeping some of them straight. It's not a bad book, the ending was actually very good. I think a little more charachter development would have really made this a great book.

A recent visit to Venice and a stopover in Rome prompted me to pick up this beautiful and surreal story of love, hate, obsession and passion.
David Hewson has blended the old and the present day with seamless ease and one feels able to move between the interweaving stories with an almost surreal yet tangible sense of being there....There was a balance between descriptive elements of Venice itself (sufficient to satisfy someone who has been a visitor) and the characters such that you felt yourself there, drinking the wine, hearing the music, seeing the colour of the Canal at dusk. A dark, complex, and intriguing story which almost challenges the reader to choose between good and evil for the sake of love and passion. Read and enjoy.