From Publishers Weekly
When naive music conservatory student Brendan Bauer is accused of murdering the predatory, aging composer who raped him and is suspected of knifing another gay colleague, pianist and faculty member Maggie Blackburn turns sleuth. According to PW , this is the third "elegant and sensational thriller" by the pseudonymous Smith, aka Joyce Carol Oates.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
The rape of a male graduate student by Rolf Christensen, a famous composer and faculty member, follows a cocktail party given by Maggie Blackburn, director of graduate music education at Curtis Institute of Music in Forest Park, Connecticut. When Brendan Bauer brings charges against Christensen, the less-than-courageous ethics committee generates a cover-up. Someone is out to get Christensen, however, and Bauer seems to be the only suspect. Then Maggie begins an investigation of her own. The story moves at a languid pace through the details of Maggie's life to her championing of her friend. Nemesis is hard to classify. It is not a true "detection" mystery, as the author hides everything from the reader; it is not completely satisfying as a novel, since the characters are undeveloped. Yet it is an intriguing tale of life in a music conservatory set within a counterplot of what happens to people when they are touched by evil. Smith is the pseudonym of Joyce Carol Oates.--Ed.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights, P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights, P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
