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The Mask of Red Death [Paperback]

Harold Schechter (Author)
4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)


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Product Details

  • Paperback
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books (2004)
  • ASIN: B000OVAP8C
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,497,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Harold Schechter is a professor of American literature and culture. Renowned for his true-crime writing, he is the author of the nonfiction books Fatal, Fiend, Bestial, Deviant, Deranged, Depraved, and, with David Everitt, The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. He is also the author of Nevermore and The Hum Bug, the acclaimed historical novels featuring Edgar Allan Poe. He lives in New York State.

 

Customer Reviews

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4.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars delightfulmid nineteenth century historical mystery, August 3, 2004
This review is from: The Mask of Red Death (Hardcover)
In 1845, the Raven and several scathing reviews in newspapers have brought fame to Edgar Allan Poe He relocated to Manhattan accompanied by his fragile spouse and his mother-in-law. However, the city is in an angry uproar as someone is killing and scalping people. The locals believe that Indian Chief Wolf Bear, working in P.T. Barnum's sideshow, is the serial killer and a lynch mob forms.

However, Kit Carson arrives in time to prove that Chief Wolf Bear is innocent and that the reprehensible John "Liver-Eating" Johnson is the killer. Joining ranks Kit and Edgar follow the deadly trail that includes a mysterious albino client of the author. While Edgar would prefer to say NEVERMORE and Kit believes a big city is HUM BUG, both know they must stop this vicious murderer before he adds more to his scalp collection.

The obvious comparison between the writer and the frontiersman is a delight and much of the historical tidbits add a sense of mid nineteenth century New York to the historical mystery. Johnson, who ate the livers of his victims, comes across as macabre and authentic as the real person he was. However, the flashbacks that provide much of the period piece also take away from the suspense building to a final confrontation between the mountain man serial killer vs. the amateur sleuth writer and his western scout partner in the canyons of New York.

Harriet Klausner
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Series Maintains High Style and Adventure, September 18, 2005
This review is from: The Mask of Red Death (Hardcover)
Harold Schechter's Edgar Allen Poe mystery series is one of my favorites, and I was pleased to find the third one just as engrossing as its predecessors. The books, written in the first person, freely adopt Poe's literary style--sometimes to comedic effect. Schechter does poke affectionate fun at Poe now and again, but not at the cost of dehumanizing the character. His Poe feels like a warm and admirable (if pretentious and squeamish) human being. Schechter, who is more commonly known as the writer of many above average historical true crime books, handles the adventure adroitly, too. For the full flavor, I would recommend that new readers begin with Nevermore. While the books could be taken out of order (if not without losing some context), Nevermore is powerful at establishing Poe as a character and really shouldn't be missed.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
THERE ARE CERTAIN SUBJECTS in which the interest is all-absorbing. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mysterious document, darling wife
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Red Death, The Mask, Chief Wolf Bear, Kit Carson, Captain Dunnegan, William Wyatt, George Townsend, New York City, Rosalie Edmonds, Five Points, Monsieur Vox, American Museum, Daily Mirror, John's Park, Broadway Journal, Far West, Great Mazeppa, Harry Pratt, Albert Brown, Great Scot, Ann Street, Good Lord, Rocky Mountains, Thomas Jefferson, Del Gue
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