The Map of Moments: A Novel of the Hidden Cities (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Urban realism meets dark fantasy in this spine-tingling second collaboration between authors Golden and Lebbon (after 2008's Mind the Gap) as they merge the repercussions of Hurricane Katrina with New Orleans' terrifying ghostly past. Max Corbett, a former professor at Tulane University, comes back to the Big Easy for the funeral of his lover, Gabrielle. Torn with anger and grief, he believes a stranger who claims he can put Max in touch with Gabrielle's ghost. Armed with a mysterious potion and a magical map, Max must seek out the psychic echoes of traumatic moments in the city's history. He soon finds himself trapped into experiencing all the moments, no matter how dangerous or grotesque. Golden and Lebbon have far outstripped their past efforts with this wonderfully creepy thriller of a ghost story. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Two masters of the horror genre team up for the second time (following Mind the Gap, 2008) in another Hidden Cities tale. History professor Max Corbett left Tulane after his affair with beautiful, passionate student Gabrielle Doucette ended in heartbreak when Gabrielle cheated on him. Six months later, Max returns to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina to attend Gabrielle’s funeral. As he wanders the decimated city trying to work out his complex feelings for the woman he still loves, Max is approached by Ray, an older man who offers him the chance to save Gabrielle. Ray gives Max a potion to drink and a “Map of Moments,” setting him off on a quest to find a man named Matrisse. Skeptical at first, Max soon finds himself on a journey that both reveals New Orleans’ past and puts him in peril. Golden and Lebbon vividly evoke the rich, enduring character of New Orleans, as well as spinning a compelling fantasy yarn that builds momentum as Max works his way through the city’s history. --Kristine Huntley

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Spectra (January 27, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553384708
• ISBN-13: 978-0553384703
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #138,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Dark Fantasy, April 30, 2009

By	The Mad Hatter "booktionary.blogspot.com" (NY State, United States) - See all my reviews

I decided to pick The Map of Moments up for a few reasons. Firstly, I read Golden's The Veil Trilogy starting with The Myth Hunters (The Veil, Book 1)in quick succession over last Christmas and found them to be a fun read covering many mythical creatures and gods from all different cultures. Also, who couldn't like a hardcore Jack Frost with dreads? Secondly, I have a warm place in my heart for New Orleans the locale of The Map of Moments. I visited New Orleans probably have a dozen times before Katrina and I recently when back for the first time since the storm. I should also note that The Map of Moments is the second book in The Hidden Cities series and I haven't read the first Mind the Gap which takes place in London. I decided to skip Mind the Gap: A Novel of the Hidden Cities because from what I read each book is suppose to be very standalone with no interconnecting characters and I was itching for a story placed in New Orleans.

The Map of Moments provides a great history and geography lesson for almost all of New Orleans without getting bogged down by unnecessary detail. I hate it when you read a book and the author clearly know almost nothing about the location they've placed their story in. Golden and Lebbon nailed the twists and turns of New Orleans, which makes me wonder if either ever lived there for any length of time.

Max Corbett, former professor of history at Tulane, returns to New Orleans for the funeral of his former lover and student Gabrielle. He comes back about six months after their tear, but only a couple after Katrina, the storm that took Gabrielle's life. After her funeral Max is given a map of moments by a very mysterious man from Gabrielle's past. It is a map to some of the most powerful magical events in New Orleans history and if Max absorbs enough magic from visiting these moments he has a chance to talk to Gabrielle one last time. At first Max fights the urge to follow the map, but in the end he can't deny the chance. Max explores many spots in New Orleans from its earliest beginnings to some of its darkest nights though some kind of time travel resonance.

On his journey Max untangles Gabrielle's past and her relationship to a dark and supposedly magical group that has been involved with New Orleans for hundreds of years. As he travels through a weather-torn city he depicts the terror that has shaken the city and its survivors to its very core. I'm leaving out a lot of the magic related events as they are best discovered through reading.

A quick and quite inexpensive read The Map of Moments is a truly haunting look at the dark history and magic to the underside of New Orleans and the ghosts they hide. Golden and Lebbon develop their characters well in a very believable world while painting an apocalyptic landscape. It is definitely worth checking out if you are interested in New Orleans or a bit of dark urban fantasy. I give The Map of Moments 7 hats out of 10. The next book in the series is placed in Venice and will likely be released next year.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dark City Blues, April 5, 2009

By	Mel Odom (Moore, OK USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Christopher Golden and Tim Lebbon hit their stride in the second book of their Hidden Cities series. As of this writing, there are going to be at least four novels, hopefully more because they do a bang up job of presenting each city and dousing it in eeriness.

The first book, MIND THE GAP, is set in London. THE MAP OF MOMENTS is set in New Orleans only a short time after Hurricane Katrina wiped out the city. The news coverage of that event was so stark that images still haunt most of us. I distinctly remember pictures of bodies floating in the water and alligators swimming into the city. My wife and I had been there before the hurricane, so it was really strange to see New Orleans in such a state of disarray.

The authors play on that history without going over the top. Those horrible events run as a constant undertone throughout the book, but Golden and Lebbon never take advantage of that horror. Instead, they use the threads of magic and dark anticipation that have always been linked to New Orleans to weave their own mythos and chills.

I enjoyed the atmosphere the novel tremendously. Even in the daylight, the book feels dark and moody. Every house and every place of business seems to offer a threat. Max Corbett, the protagonist of the book, won my sympathies as soon as he stepped onto the page and I discovered he'd come back to New Orleans to bury the woman he loved.

The story turns more tragic immediately when I found out Gabrielle had cheated on Max, and he still didn't understand why. That confusion over how he's supposed to feel about Gabrielle's death is terrific and really had me hanging. But before I could figure out how I really felt about that, before Max could figure it out for himself, things got really strange.

In an almost Twilight Zone kind of moment at the cemetery where only Max and two other people showed up to say their goodbyes, an old man named Ray corners Max and offers him a chance to save Gabrielle. I loved how Max was deserted at the cemetery and had to accept a ride from Ray. Once that happened, I knew he was on a course with destiny and darkness.

That's just the beginning of Max's journey. He's given a magical potion and a magical map to track down "moments" from New Orleans's history. All of these ventures into the past lend Max magic that he's supposed to be able to use to save Gabrielle. Even though he doesn't believe that can be done, he feels he has to try. The first "moment" feels like a drunken vision and he isn't sure whether he actually experienced it.

However, the men chasing him are real. And they want to prevent him from using the map. As dangerous as the "moments" are, remaining in New Orleans is just as dangerous.

Golden and Lebbon do a masterful job of presenting the chase and the discovery of the darkness lurking in New Orleans's history. I ended up reading much of the book at night when the house was quiet, and I think that really lent itself to the overall experience. So if you can get somewhere quiet, with darkness all around, except for your reading lamp, The Map of Moments is a wonderfully creepy experience down streets littered with dead and dark things.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stellar dark fantasy, February 26, 2009

By	M. Carole "M Carole" (West Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews

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The Hidden Cities series are tellings about the soul of a particular city; the previous book was London and this one is New Orleans. Golden and Lebbon are innovative writers on their own, and together they create a brilliant, dark, supernatural quest story that keeps you hooked.

See some of the cookie cutter reviews for the plot summary, instead, I'll get into the reasons I liked it. The novel isn't heavy on character development or interaction ... and you won't really care. It's consciously done, as everyone in this book is an enigma, even to themselves, and unravelling that is part of the journey. The main character here is really the city, and the authors do a fantastic job of portraying the darkness and seamy aura that was certainly there before Katrina, and is even more pervasive afterward. I liked this one even more than Mind the Gap, and maybe that's because I've spent time in New Orleans and not in London. It's not often I think a book captures the true feeling of a place while still telling an entertaining story; this one does. In short, highly recommended.