The Master of Seacliff [Paperback]

Max Pierce (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2007

Seacliff is a mansion enshrouded in near-eternal fog, dark mystery and suspicion - perhaps a reflection of the house's master. An imposing Blackbeard of a man, Duncan Stewart is both feared and admired by his business associates as well as the people he calls friends. And his home, in which young tutor and aspiring artist Andrew Wyndham now resides, holds terrible secrets - secrets that could destroy everyone within its walls. For pure gothic escapism with a decidedly masculine point of view, "The Master of Seacliff" is an enthralling and satisfying read.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Five Stars ... A finely wrought Gothic thriller with a contemporary twist ... Max Pierce understands the fine art of mystery storytelling, finding that magic of the past great writers who doted on dark old mansions that held their secrets of murder and mayhem much like an old spinster creaking in her attic rocking chair. But Pierce introduces a taboo subject of the time in which he sets this intriguing tale (1899 in America) and in doing so refreshes his story for a new audience of Romance aficionados. He populates his engrossing yarn with handsome men (yes, and women) most of whom appear connected by their closeted sexuality! Pierce writes with such uncanny attention to detail and to keeping the language and atmosphere of 1899 in place that he creates a page-turning thriller that keeps the reader guessing up to the final page. -- Grady Harp, Author, War Songs, Art Essayist and Curator

In the tradition of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre, Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, Vincent Virga's Gaywyck, and the classic TV show Dark Shadows, Max Pierce's delightful suspense novel gives us all the rich and romantic elements of the gothic, but with a welcome queer twist. Here are a mysterious mansion above the sea, an innocent tutor, a troubled child, and a series of unsolved murders. And, in the dark character of brooding Duncan Stewart, Pierce gives us the sort of handsome, hirsute, tormented Byronic hero that gay male fans of the gothic either will want to become or will want to ravish -- Jeff Mann, MA, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing, English Department, Virginia Tech

Max Pierce has reinvigorated the Gothic novel. Everything you'd expect is there-the handsome, brooding, lord of the manor; the isolated seafront mansion, haunted by tragedy; the naïve young tutor who is determined to solve the mysteries that surround him. Yet by giving this old story a gay twist, Pierce has created something totally new and fascinating. Filled with extravagant writing, dark secrets, and deep passions, The Master of Seacliff is a great read. -- Neil Plakcy, author of Mahu

Max Pierce skillfully walks a difficult tightrope of tone in this delightfully sexy gothic pastiche. He's able to both honor the wildly romantic 19th century novel as well as bringing it up to date with its nod to contemporary sexual honesty. He mixes into his stew dashes of Rebecca, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Turn of The Screw and comes up with a surprisingly original and wholly entertaining work of his own -- Charles Busch is author of the play The Tale of the Allergist's Wife

Sweat-soaked bodies and rippling pecs replace heaving bodices in The Master of Seacliff, Max Pierce's well-written twist on gothic romance novels. . . . Uses the genre's signature concepts as foundation for this skilled homage to Jane Eyre, Rebecca, Victoria Holt novels, and cinematic camp classics. . . . Pierce's ensuing tale offers undercurrents of dominance, discipline and longing as the central characters find ample opportunities to unravel mysteries as well as explore their own destinies, desires and sexual appetites -- Buzz (Andrew Clarke)

About the Author

Max Pierce's love of mystery and horror began with a childhood subscription to Famous Monsters of Filmland and watching countless hours of late-night movies without adult supervision. He explored the world of the vampire as a contributor to the 2005 anthology Blood Lust. As a journalist, he writes on Hollywood history and pop culture. An active member of PEN West, Max led a writing group based out of the landmark A Different Light bookstore.

Product Details

• Paperback: 201 pages
• Publisher: Harrington Park Press (February 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560236361
• ISBN-13: 978-1560236368
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Books and movies opened the doors of my imagination and have captivated me ever since. If you have chosen to read something I have written, I am humbled. If you liked what you read, I've done my job. If not, I respect that also.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Rare and Entertaining Gay Gothic, March 25, 2007

By 

Jak Klinikowski "justjak13" (El Paso, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Master of Seacliff (Paperback)

Gothic mysteries have been around for years, but gay gothic mysteries are a rare breed. In the pantheon of queer literature these novels are few and far between. In fact, off the top of my head, I can think of only one other I've read, Vincent Virga's spellbinding GAYWYCK, originally published in 1980.

In THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF, Max Pierce delivers a classic piece of gothic fiction. All the prerequisites are in place. The large foreboding mansion overlooking the sea, the brooding darkly handsome lord of the manor who may or may not be a murderer, the newly hired fresh faced innocent, and the sinister servant determined to drive the newcomer from the premises.

The year is 1899 and twenty year old Andrew Wyndham travels 200 miles up the Atlantic coast, from his Manhattan home, to take up residence at Seacliff, the large estate of Duncan Stewart. Andrew has agreed to a position as tutor to Duncan's eight year old son, Tim, for the summer. The money he earns will be used to finance his dream of going to Paris to study art.

Duncan Stewart is a wealthy and powerful businessman with an infamous reputation. His father, Gordon, and his father's friend, Albert, were found shot to death at Seacliff eight years prior and prevailing gossip holds Duncan responsible. It's said that Duncan wanted control of the family business and murdered to have it. Officially the deaths are considered a murder-suicide between the two men, but most don't believe it.

This, however, is not the only mystery clouding the situation. Duncan's protégé and secret lover, pianist Steven Charles, disappeared a year before Andrew's arrival and his absence has, once again, brought suspicion upon Duncan.

As Andrew learns more of the rumors about Duncan, he is both fascinated and frightened. Duncan is a man who can be both charming and obnoxiously brash. Will the obvious attraction between the two men blossom into love, or will the mysteries surrounding Duncan doom their relationship to failure?

THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF is both a beautifully constructed mystery and a well told tale of forbidden love at the turn of the last century. The pace builds nicely and the conclusions are not easily guessed. This novel is gothic storytelling at its finest, and I highly recommend it.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Finely Wrought Gothic Thriller with a Contemporary Twist, December 22, 2006

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Master of Seacliff (Paperback)

Max Pierce seems to be a writer to watch. He understands the fine art of mystery storytelling, finding that magic of the past great writers who doted on dark old mansions that held their secrets of murder and mayhem much like an old spinster creaking in her attic rocking chair. But Pierce introduces a taboo subject of the time in which he sets this intriguing tale (1899 in America) and in doing so refreshes his story for a new audience of Romance aficionados. He populates his engrossing yarn with handsome men (yes, and women) most of whom appear connected by their closeted sexuality!

Seacliff, the name of the elegant but darkly invested mansion somewhere along the coast above New York City, hides secrets of two significant murders that happened some eight years before the story begins. The narrator is a young artist Andrew who timidly accepts the role as tutor for the son of the wealthy Duncan Stewart, the virile and powerful scion of the estate whose wife has died without an heir for Duncan (a situation remedied by a quick trip to a gypsy in Paris), replacing a young pianist who left the estate under mysterious circumstances. Gossip and secrets suggest that the murders of Duncan's father and one Albert may have been at the hand of Duncan himself, but other mysteries cloud the mansion: the daughter of the housekeepers apparently committed suicide in a leap off the cliffs when she learned of her beloved's suspicious death; her mute son remains in the household tied to cemetery visits; the butler is inordinately dour and suspicious; the neighboring estate is owned by a brother and sister - the brother being gay and the sister a bit too compassionate. Pierce slowly unveils the fact that gay relationships existed between the murdered men, the neighbor and the pianist with Duncan, and that similar forces are at work to bring the new tutor Andrew into the murky trysts. And simultaneously the true stories of the many deaths that hang in the past gradually are uncovered. It is a lot of story to condense but Pierce writes with such uncanny attention to detail and to keeping the language and atmosphere of 1899 in place that he creates a page-turning thriller that keeps the reader guessing up to the final page.

Gothic horror, interrelated murders and suicides, past and present gay relationships, and exploration of a time when a staff of servants underlined the intrigue of the old mansions all make THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF and absorbing new novel. Pierce's elegant prose puts it all into perspective, keeping the sensual aspects alive but related in the tenor of the times. By the end of the novel, closing the covers, the reader satisfyingly reflects on the forbidden love affairs the walls of Seacliff had seen and how those gay trysts opened such strange events that made the discoveries of perpetrators so fascinating. Grady Harp, December 06

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What fun!, February 9, 2011

By 

octobercountry (the Land of Trees and Heroes) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Master of Seacliff (Hardcover)

I was so pleased come across this gay gothic---I enjoy the genre so much, and most particularly those titles that feature a gay twist.

Now, some readers of this novel have complained that it borrows excessively from Victoria Holt's (straight) gothic novel Mistress of Mellyn, as well as Vincent Virga's Gaywyck. This is true enough. I've read both books, and this is particularly similar to Holt's book in several ways. I'll also add that it adds a dash of Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca to the mix. And so perhaps I do wish that the plot of "Master of Seacliff" displayed a bit more originality.

But you know what? In the end, I didn't mind all that much that it was derivative. I've come across so few gay gothic titles, that I'm quite happy to add another to my very short list of such books. And let's face it, the gothic novel has been around for over 200 years; take, for example, 1794's The Mysteries of Udolpho (Penguin Classics). Part of the fun of the genre is the way these books trade on hoary old clichés: the young innocent arriving at a palatial mansion shrouded in mystery and gloom, complete with screams in the night, figures half-glimpsed in the mist, unsolved murders from the past casting a pall upon the present... What fun!

Now, the book isn't perfect. Apart from the derivative story-line, there are a few plot points that didn't exactly make sense to me. And I really do wish that the characters of the two protagonists had been a developed a bit further, a bit more delineated. I'm not asking for the obsessive detail of "Gaywyck," but I wouldn't have minded seeing the growing relationship explored in a bit more depth. But man---that Duncan Stewart---now there's an attractive bear of a fellow!

Still, despite a few flaws, I enjoyed the book very much and will happily recommend it.