In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Essays by Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, Stephen King, ... Lippman, Lisa Scottoline, and Thirteen Others [Hardcover]

Michael Connelly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2009

Few have crafted stories as haunting as those by Edgar Allan Poe. Collected here to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Poe's birth are sixteen of his best tales accompanied by twenty essays from beloved authors, including T. Jefferson Parker, Lawrence Block, Sara Paretsky, and Joseph Wambaugh, among others, on how Poe has changed their life and work.

Michael Connelly recounts the inspiration he drew from Poe's poetry while researching one of his books. Stephen King reflects on Poe's insight into humanity's dark side in "The Genius of 'The Tell-Tale Heart.'" Jan Burke recalls her childhood terror during late-night reading sessions. Tess Gerritsen, Nelson DeMille, and others remember the classic B-movie adaptations of Poe's tales. And in "The Thief," Laurie R. King complains about how Poe stole all the good ideas . . . or maybe he just thought of them first.

Powerful and timeless, In the Shadow of the Master is a celebration of one of the greatest literary minds of all time.

The Mystery Writers of America, founded in 1945, is the foremost organization for mystery writers and other professionals dedicated to the field of crime writing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Mystery Writers of America presents a collection of Poe tales with afterwords by 20 distinguished writers who honor Poe's powerful influence on the modern crime story. Stephen King, reflecting on The Tell-tale Heart, credits Poe with writing the first tale of criminal sociopathy. Lisa Scottoline, in her perceptive appreciation of William Wilson, cites a score of contemporary works that silently acknowledge its influence in their exploration of the spookiness that comes from the fragmenting or doubling of the self, and the splintering of identity. P.J. Parrish, writing reverently on The Black Cat, praises it as, among other things, an early example of genre-crossing in its splice of horror and detection. Contributions from Lawrence Block, Sue Grafton, Sara Paretsky, Tess Gerritsen and others—many of them Edgar winners—vary in their appreciation from the deeply personal to the respectfully analytical, and from the lightly humorous to the deadly earnest. (Jan.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* What mystery novelist worth his or her advance isn’t indebted to the dark-souled inventor of the detective-fiction genre? And what reader hasn’t left the lights lingering a little longer after indulging in one of his tales? This compulsively readable collection, commemorating the 200th anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s birth, unites some of Poe’s best short works (including The Black Cat, The Raven, and The Fall of the House of Usher) with commentary by a slew of Edgar Award winners and nominees. Here readers find T. Jefferson Parker reflecting on the awe he experienced, as a 12-year-old boy, upon reading the unforgettable opening lines of The Cask of Amontillado. And Nelson DeMille as a teenager, quivering in his boots as he cuts through a cemetery after seeing the 3-D movie based on The Murders in the Rue Morgue. Novelist Lisa Scottoline, who didn’t buckle down and read Poe until adulthood, writes about Poe’s spooky representations of the splintered self that inspired her own prose. Editor Connelly recounts a memorable, albeit terrifying, night in a hotel room spent under the author’s spell. Opining on The Tell-Tale Heart, Stephen King doesn’t miss a beat.: Poe foresaw the darkness of generations far beyond his own, he writes. Ours, for instance. --Allison Block

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow (January 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061690392
• ISBN-13: 978-0061690396
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,201 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy Birthday Poe, January 9, 2009

By 

lochnessa7 "lochnessa7" (Half Hollow Hills, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Essays by Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, Stephen King, ... Lippman, Lisa Scottoline, and Thirteen Others (Hardcover)

If you're a Poe fan at all, you owe it to yourself to check out this wonderful collection. To commemorate Poe's 200th birthday its a collection of some of his best stories and poems, with essays and commentary by a number of Edgar Award Winning mystery and horror authors.

I picked it up thinking, well I'll just skip the essays and reread my favorite stories, but surprisingly, the essays were great. They were engaging, insightful and fun to read. You can see how your favorite modern thriller writers were influenced by Poe. Or, if so inclined, you can laugh at their shortcomings next to the undisputed master.

A handful of the essays seem forced (the ones written in verse, and Sue Grafton who seems to be fishing for something good to say) but on the whole the essays are short and sweet (if you consider stories of childhood nighmares sweet). And the book has amazing illustrations; creepy black-and-white, stark, like Edward Gorey without the whimsy.
And of course, there's Poe.

The book includes a variety of his tales, William Wilson, Tell-Tale Heart, Cask of Amontillado, Masque of the Red Death, Murders in the Rue Morgue, and others, as well as "The Raven" and "The Bells". And as Poe is undeniably the master, these gems alone would be worth the price of the book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book deserved to receive more attention...., February 9, 2009

By 

Robert Busko (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Essays by Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, Stephen King, ... Lippman, Lisa Scottoline, and Thirteen Others (Hardcover)

In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Michael Connelly, is more than simply a republishing of 13 of Poe's original tales. If that were all that was here there certainly wouldn't be much to comment on especially since virtually everything Poe ever published is available on the Internet.....for free in most cases. What is of value here are the short essays written by many of today's best authors of the horror/crime genre.

Many of the essayists admit that they first really became interested in Poe in a variety of ways, some, for example, after watching one of Roger Corman's movies from the 60's. The movie The Pit and the Pendulum did it for me. I went to school the next week and checked out The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe from the school library and read it over the Christmas break. Two things happened as a result of that experience. One, I became a lifelong fan of Mr. Poe. The other was the realization that Hollywood could not improve on the written word. Later, when I started buying books, that same edition of The Complete Works was one of the first books I purchased. I still have it and I still read it from time to time.

As I read the essays in the Shadow of the Master, I found that I also shared a fascination with Edgar Allan Poe with each of the writers. A sense of dread over takes the reader when you pick up a Poe story, but it's a dread that won't hurt you. Whether it's a crime story with world famous French detective Dupin or one of Poe's true horror classics like Tell-Tale Heart, we all share a love of the macabre that only Poe can dish up.

In the Shadow of the Master is a fitting salute of Poe's 200th birthday. It is also reassuring that many of today's A list authors are willing to give Edgar Allan Poe his just recognition of having influenced them. All the essays are wonderful, but Michael Connelly, Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Laura Lippman's are the best.

This is a perfect book to read some cold winter evening when you can toss a throw over yourself and settle down to a truly frightening session with the master of the macabre.

I highly recommend.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic Poe, Modern Poe, January 14, 2009

By 

AnnabelLee - See all my reviews

This review is from: In the Shadow of the Master: Classic Tales by Edgar Allan Poe and Essays by Jeffery Deaver, Nelson DeMille, Tess Gerritsen, Sue Grafton, Stephen King, ... Lippman, Lisa Scottoline, and Thirteen Others (Hardcover)

Poe is the best. Horror writing doesn't get any better. I'm so excited to see all these writers who've carried Poe's vision into the 21st century honor him. Their essays are funny and interesting, and make a wonderful compliment to Poe's timeless, terrifying stories.