Customer Reviews

The Black Tower (P.S.)

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

SPOILER-FREE REVIEW -- nothing more than the publisher has already disclosed

This is a book that grabs you from sentence one and doesn't let go until the end. Louis Bayard has accomplished something rare in historical fiction: using a first person account, he manages to put the reader in a time and place, in this case 19th century Paris, without resorting to long descriptions the narrator wouldn't bother to make. His Paris comes alive organically, with all of its characters -- from the poor living in rat-infested squalor, to the petite bourgeousie, the nobility, and criminals and royalty -- and describes the smells, the monuments, the political climate, the weather and so many other period details so as to make you feel like you are there. That he also writes beautifully and has crafted a story that unfolds exquisitely and at a perfect pace makes this a great read and one I will want to return to again and again.

The narrator in question is Hector Carpentier, a doctor of sorts, who has frittered away his family's cash and whose mother has turned their home into a boarding house. He is drafted into helping solve a murder by feared police inspector Vidocq, an actual historical character, and in the process discovers that Louis-Charles (Louis the 17th), the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, believed killed as a child by revolutionaries under Napoleon, may still be alive.

While the real star of the book is Restoration Paris itself, Vidocq is a close second in all his animal ferocity and uncanny brilliance. Think a French Sherlock Holmes with an edge. The supporting characters are fleshed out beautifully, both men and women, rich and poor, and I'm not describing them because their identity and characters unfold with the twists and turns in the story and are best savored without knowing too much going in. Every time I thought the story had nowhere to go, it went somewhere new, and the characters continued to develop in their complexity and nuance.

At last the Vine program has provided fiction about which I can rave. This is historical fiction at its best.

The Black Tower is a what-could-have-been murder mystery. Set in 1818, not long after Napoleon had been deposed and the French monarchy reinstated, the novel begins when a man is found murdered in the streets of Paris, carrying a calling card with Dr. Hector Carpentier's name on it.

Enter Eugene Francois Vidocq, one of the most legendary and feared detectives of the early 19th century (and such an influence that Victor Hugo modeled both Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert on him; a Wikipedia search on Vidocq reveals that he is credited with introducing record-keeping, criminology, and ballistics to the field of criminal investigation). Vidocq has just established the very first plainclothes police force, said to be composed of some very dangerous ex-cons. It's into this world, where the line between the law and crime is smudged, that Dr. Hector Carpentier enters.

On the surface, the dead man, Leblanc, and Carpentier have nothing in common. But the mystery soon leads Carpentier and Vidocq into a dangerous search into the secrets of the murdered royal family--and entertain the thought that Louis-Charles, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and who was imprisoned for many long months, might still be alive.

I'm always skeptical of historical fiction that's written in the first person--but surprisingly, Louis Bayard manages to make it work in this book. The Parisian underworld is sufficiently creepy, and Carpentier, plays a perfect (albeit watered-down) Dr. Watson to Vidocq's Sherlock Holmes. I just loved inspector Vidocq, for his razor-sharp wit and ability to transform into another character through disguise. He's arrogant and cocky, but very sure of his abilities as an investigator (and not afraid to strut like a peacock when someone compliments him)!

There's a hefty amount of political intrigue and espionage in this novel, made even juicier by the idea that the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette might have still been alive in 1818, long after a time period which everyone wished to forget. The novel is well-written; not a word is wasted here. It's a fast-paced and utterly convincing novel.

The Black Tower is a wonderfully written and at times engaging book which paints a vivid and disturbing picture of Paris during the French Revolution and the Restoration period. Louis Bayard certainly did his homework and takes you right through a time portal as good historical fiction is supposed to. The operative word being "good".

The Black Tower is good but not great in my opinion thanks to the prose. The book reads like a column in a newspaper or an essay describing particular events. The narrative of the main character comes across as distant and detached from the happenings in the book and the reader (this one anyway) is never truly sucked in to what is going on. The characters are colorful, the pacing is even and the plot is solid but the storytelling isn't as captivating as I would have liked it to be. I like for a book to grab hold of me and throw me right in the middle of the story; The Black Tower did not do this. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, but am left frustrated because it could have been much better.

I have to mention that I picked up this novel on a whim, not knowing what to expect. I have heard of the author and saw the book at my local bookstore where it immediately reminded me of Caleb Carr's exceptional The Alienist. I started reading this book hoping it would be similar to Carr's masterwork but with an early 19th century Parisian setting instead of a late 19th century New York setting. Both are historical fiction and both can be described as period pieces, but the Black Tower really isn't as much of a mystery as The Alienist is. Perhaps it is unfair to compare the two, but either way one is clearly superior and demonstrates the difference between a great novel and a good novel.

The Black Tower relies heavily on its historical setting and intrigue among the characters. The historical setting is fascinating and adeptly brought to life by Bayard but as I am unfamiliar with the layout of Paris (though the jacket of the book provides a map) I couldn't quite follow the characters around without getting lost thanks to the forgettable French names of the different locales. My problem, not the books, but it contributed to my detachment from the story. The characters are interesting and colorful but the narrator, as mentioned, comes across as aloof and as a result we never truly get to know anyone other than the other main character, Vidocq. The author/narrator relies heavily on telling us about the characters instead of introducing us and allowing them to develop on their own.

I see that this book has received rave reviews here on Amazon and I am not going to say such acclaim is undeserving. I certainly enjoyed The Black Tower but at the same time there is better out there.

Amazon will not allow me to give the book 3.5 stars and I will not allow myself to give it 4 stars so I must round down. Still, it is Recommended.

This is the first book I've read by this author. WOW. I am coming back for more. It took it camping and completely forgot about enjoying the great outdoors - this book had me glued. THE BLACK TOWER has it all - history, adventure, roques, kings, mystery, murder, secrets...all in the fascinating setting of early 19th century France. I highly recommend this book if you like a good mystery set in an historical setting. The characters are well-developed, often humorous. The "detective" Vidocq (based on a real person) is unforgettable.

For parents: references to prostitution, torture, extramarital sex, oblique reference to homosexual sex, some swearing, one MINIMALLY graphic sex scene. Vulgar references to bodily functions, some swearing. If it were a movie it would be rated PG-13.

The treatment of the children of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette by the French state following the murder of their parents must rank very high among the great things achieved in the name of egalitarianism. Certainly, not until the October Revolution of 1918 did anything really approach that level of Procrustean glory. But then, the Reds - like the Browns in Germany a decade or so later - were always attentive students and heirs of the French Revolution.

In "The Black Tower," author Louis Bayard takes us to the unfamiliar (for most American readers, I'd imagine) days of the Restoration, and presents us with not only a restoration but even - could it be? - a resurrection? That's what confronts the policeman Vidocq and his more-than-a-little reluctant Watson, Hector Carpentier, when signs, including a rising toll of dead bodies, begin to suggest that the child king Louis XVII is not dead after all, but alive and somewhere in France.

I wasn't familiar with Louis Bayard when I requested this title (given the name and subject, I assumed the author was French), but I am impressed by what he achieves in "The Black Tower." A number of pretty interesting characters come together in a setting that is politically, culturally, and geographically complex. The plot has the requisite number of twists and turns before the end - some relatively foreseeable, others less so - along with a good mix of violence, drama, and suspense. One of the blurb-writers on the back cover uses the word "unsentimental" to describe Bayard's prose in an earlier work, and I'd use the same here. I would have liked to feel a stronger emotional connection to our narrator (he feels somewhat too rational, too emotionally insulated from the reader ... which is perhaps to be expected in times like the ones he's living through, but I would have liked a bigger peek behind the veil), but I admired the way Bayard had the character evolve from one end of the novel to the other. The writing as a whole is spare and intense, with characterization being revealed in action, not explication.

Reading this on a vacation weekend was a rewarding way to spend a few days. I cannot guarantee Louis Bayard will make it to my brief list of "mystery authors whose next book I'm anxiously awaiting," but I do think he deserves the accolades he's apparently been receiving. I'll have to give his other titles a try, because this one was a fine introduction.

This book is a historical novel, based on a real-life person who lived back in 19-century Paris. I selected this book expecting it to be an edge-of-my-seat read that would keep me up for hours as I read. I came away somewhat disappointed.

The setting is Paris in the 1800's. The overall story is told from the 1st-person perspective of Dr. Hector Carpentier, who has the misfortune of encountering Vidocq, a Frenchman who turned from a life of crime to a life of police cooperation.

Vidocq was a real person and had a colorful history. He was indeed a criminal that assisted the police and as such he was both feared and hated in his day.

The author, Louis Bayard, superbly recreates the setting, transporting the reader back to the time and place where this story would have taken place. Bayard shows considerable mastery in recreating the setting, including all manner of very minor details that bring the story into more vivid view.

Where this novel lost me is in the development of the character Vidocq. He comes across as over-the-top, a modern forensic scientist, policeman, street thug and arrogant businessman all rolled into one character. Additionally, it seems he has access to information to which the reader is not privy, and at the "a-ha" moment it is laid out with the reader wondering from where it came.

This is not a bad novel. In fact, it is exceptionally well written and presents a memorable storyline that will engage many readers. I would be dishonest if I counted myself as among that group, though.

I give this novel 4 stars, for excellent story development and great writing. My disappointment with the main character prevents me from going farther.

To open Louis Bayard's latest novel is to take a step back in time, to the introduction of the world's first detective. From the cover art promising sinister goings-on to the surprising final chapter, THE BLACK TOWER cannot fail to delight thriller fans. And the old-fashioned touch of chapter titles is a pleasure in and of itself.

The headings break the book into a series of wonderful little stories that all join together into a giant adventure. Each chapter is filled with history and mystery told through the words of one Dr. Hector Carpentier, a man specializing in venereal diseases. Who could be a more unlikely hero? Carpentier is not really cut out for sleuthing but has some very good advice in the opening chapter: Never let your name be found in a dead man's trousers.

He teams up --- without really meaning to --- with Eugene Francois Vidocq, criminal turned cop, now a famous detective of somewhat shady character and a man with a gigantic reputation and an ego to match. Vidocq has an air about him reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes crossed with Lt. Columbo (of the old TV series).

"Vidocq."

"Not the scoundrel!"

"Why, he's not!...He's the terror of criminals everywhere, he's - he's the reason we can sleep with our throats bare."

"Oh, that's good! He's the last man in the world I'd trust with my throat."

A master of disguise, Vidocq takes Carpentier on a dangerous chase around Paris and the surrounding countryside. The dead man whose trousers the good doctor's name was lodged in was Chrétien Leblanc. The name rings no bells with Carpentier, but that doesn't stop Vidocq. He pesters Carpentier with an exhaustive barrage of questions until he extracts several revelations. Despite skepticism on Vidocq's part --- likely stemming from a personal tendency to deception --- Carpentier was not trying to conceal anything; he simply did not understand the significance of facts in his possession.

It is 1881, the early days of the Restoration in France. The political climate is changing, albeit slowly. Loyalties that are even perceived to lean the wrong way can land one in prison, and with only the shakiest of proof necessary. So when someone suggests that the dauphin --- Louis-Charles, Duke of Normandy, son of Marie Antoinette and King Louis XVI --- might still be alive, it is best said in hushed tones. The king's execution and that of Marie Antoinette, for treason, seems explanation enough for exercising extraordinary caution. Could a hint that the dauphin survived be the reason Leblanc was murdered? If so, why did he have Carpentier's name in his pants pocket, and why was he seemingly headed to see the doctor?

The official story goes that the dauphin was tossed into a filthy cell in the Temple, a cruel and unforgiving prison, on the fourth floor of the black tower, and that he eventually died there. But with Leblanc's death, followed by yet another, the possibility that young Louis-Charles somehow escaped starts to look plausible.

Before Vidocq and Carpentier can interview someone who sounds like a reliable source with a wealth of information, the man dies. Vidocq handily arrests one of his assassins, wresting from him the story of how he and his partner were approached for the job, and by whom. Unfortunately, the man knows his employer simply by the moniker "Monsieur." In France, that is certainly not very specific. Another attempt at proving the truth of the story is foiled!

But Vidocq is nothing if not tenacious, pursuing all leads like a dog hot on the trail and dragging Carpentier along with him. To his amazement, Carpentier turns out to be almost as good a detective as he is a venerologist. Carpentier surprises himself, as well as Vidocq, as he ferrets out clues, follows them up, dissects them and trusts his instincts to expose the truth. But, in the end, can they prove that the young man they have found is Louis-Charles?

Louis Bayard's MR. TIMOTHY was a rare and refreshing delight in the historical fiction genre, and his PALE BLUE EYE ratcheted him up a notch further on the talent scale. But with THE BLACK TOWER, his amazing skill with words coupled with his firm grasp of history cannot be matched. Reading a Louis Bayard story is fun, informative, whimsical and dark as the forbidding tower he writes about.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

This novel transcends the mystery genre and becomes literature. Beautifully written descriptions with an ear for absolutely believable dialogue fill this story, making me want to immediately read all of the author's novels! There are many, many trite novels about lost princes (Russian, French, etc) and I didn't have big expectations for this novel about a possible survival of the son of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette. What I found was a marvelously written story full of characters one cares about. I especially liked Vidocq, the creator of the French Surete, about whom one can find details in wikipedia. It is the year 1818, and he leads the investigation, along with a physician (the son of a physician who treated the prince many years earlier), into the possibility that a young, rather simple man, may be the lost prince. The story is full of interesting twists and turns, and will not disappoint any serious reader. I recommend this book without hesitation!

The Black Tower is historical fiction book with a plot containing twists, turns and political intrigues. I like historical fiction a lot, with a definitive preference for mysteries. Bayard chooses to make a mystery story out of existing questions around the fate of a member of the French Royal family after the revolution. Call me picky, but this kind of ground has been mined endlessly in other books. In general, I found all of the characters to be unsympathetic with a tendency toward annoying. I would have preferred to read a mystery book with wholly original characters affected by restoration thoughts and activities, etc - with the real people fulfilling cameo roles.

The writing style is also all a bit modern. I prefer historical fiction read like something from that time period. I can't quite put my finger on all of what makes it modern, but here are two example: In Bayard's book contractions used by characters are all the same as we'd use today. Given the speed of language change, I doubt the words contracted and the way they're contracted would be the same nearly 200 years later. The f-word appears as an adjective or an adverb multiple times - I think always by Vidocq - but written accounts of that kind of use of the word don't appear until the mid and late 19th centuries, respectively. (Yes it was that jarring to me and I'm that geeky that I'd look it up.)

Louis Bayard does not have the kind of writing ability or style that would drive me to read any of his other books. An ability to research and accurately represent the data of what happened is not the same as being able to spin an entertaining, engaging and thought provoking book and creating a "colorful" character does not equate to an interesting one.

So, if you want a historical mystery with an original story and reads like something from the time period - this book is not for you. You should check out "The Alienist" or "An Instance of the Fingerpost" instead - or for sheer fun historical mystery reading, take a look at the Mary Russell series from Laurie R. King.

I am a big fan of the mystery genre and read these books much more frequently than most others. And it is difficult to find something fresh, exciting, new leading me to scour reviews in Entertainment Weekly and to scan the shelves of the multiple bookstores in my neighborhood. How many times can we read about an alcoholic cop on the trail of a murder suspect? I have read too many 'cookie cutter' stories, some from the same authors every six months, and I really don't want to waste my time until I find authors who are willing and able to give me something new.

This search is what lead me to Caleb Carr's "The Alienist" (one of my favorite books) and to the "Maisie Dobbs" series, to name but a few. What is the unifying theme? The authors attempt to transport us to different places and different times, perhaps fictionalizing a little bit of history in the process, bringing this time and era alive for us. This is so much more interesting than yet another novel set on the mean streets of Los Angeles. Enough of those. Unless you're Michael Connelly and such a superb writer you can make it seem fresh. For the rest of you, enough.

So, when I first read about "The Black Tower" on Amazon Vine, my interest was piqued. I have never heard of Louis Bayard, but the novel's setting in France, right after the Restoration, was intriguing. As soon as I picked up the book, I was unable to put it down.

Bayard immediately captures the feel of the time, giving us an almost photographic view of what the people and the sights were like. Of course, I have no first hand knowledge to compare against but Bayard writes about these things in both an open and authoritative way, making them accessible to us.

But Bayard also reinvents an actual historical figure for his detective. Vidocq, the first director of the Surete, is at the heart of this mystery. Known as a man adept at creating disguises. Vidocq dresses as a beggar familiar to Hector Carpentier, a 26-year-old doctor, in order to get past the young man's defenses. Hector soon learns a man was killed and had his address on his person, leading the detective to Hector. Soon, the two are working together to uncover the mystery of a young man who may be the long lost Dauphin of France. Naturally, there are many people who would both welcome and hate to have such a discovery made, so Vidocq and Hector find themselves in a lot of danger almost immediately.

Bayard has a real gift for bringing the historical facts into balance with his artistic license, blending them to create a story rich in detail while still entertaining. He introduces to Hector's mother, who has been forced to rent out rooms in their home since her husband died many years ago. The home is filled with a collection of boarders who add spice to the story. And Vidocq has a number of associates whom Bayard weaves into the story.

Another thing I really enjoyed about "Tower" was the fact that Bayard's characters actually experience some real danger. At times, they are in harm's way and come away with the scrapes, bruises and more to prove it.

As the story progresses, Bayard reveals the levels of a conspiracy so deep it would be as welcome in today's society. But from our limited knowledge of this period, and the well-documented attempts of various monarchs to retain their power, the conspiracy seems well founded and completely believable.

"The Black Tower" was immensely enjoyable. So much so that I purchased Bayard's two earlier books, both of which appear ready to deliver enjoyable, unusual stories much like his newest.