The Pale Blue Eye
Now a Netflix film starring Christian Bale, Harry Melling, and Gillian Anderson
"Shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental . . . reads like a lost classic. Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction." -- New York Times Book Review
An ingenious tale of murder and revenge at West Point, featuring a retired detective and a young cadet named Edgar Allan Poe--from the author of Courting Mr. Lincoln.
At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an October evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart.
Augustus Landor--who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective--is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally--a moody, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling.
The strange and haunted Southern poet, for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe.
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"Full of delightfully unexpected twists that continue to the very last pages of the novel."--Denver Post
"Finely executed prose...An exquisitely rendered character study, imaginatively gothic, compelling."--Memphis Commercial Appeal
"Poe, an exacting critic...would have been impressed by Bayard's intelligence and fluidity as a writer."--Oregonian
"Seemlessly blends Poe into an engrossing whodunit worthy of its inspiration. "--USA Today
"A rich and finely wrought psychological study that is a fitting tribute to Poe himself."--The Straits Times (Singapore)
"What makes this more than a well-crafted thriller...is Bayard's gift for language. He paints incredibly vivid pictures."--Atlanta Journal-Constitution
"An uncanny and original portrait. Captures the imagination with exquisite details and a compelling, disquieting story."--Denver Rocky Mountain News
"Ingenious...with a rich knowledge of Poe's life and work."--Entertainment Weekly
"Recommended. This novel is moody and rich in historic detail."--Tucson Citizen
"Exquisitely rendered character study, imaginatively Gothic, compelling."--Miami Herald
"Shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental...reads like a lost classic. Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction."--New York Times Book Review
"This book has it all--prose, plot and a terrifying conclusion...it will have you guessing to the very end."--Hamilton Spectator (Canada)
"Gracefully written...Bayard's prose flows like silk, weightless but enveloping, and never shows its seams.--Salon.com
"Bayard has produced a nuanced, wonderfully written tale, one worthy of the old master himself."--Baltimore Sun
"Gruesomely entertaining."--New York Times
"Brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver."--Sunday Times (London)
"Skillful...lyrical...Moves methodically to the suspects, the motives, and the clues that twist and turn like the Hudson itself."--Library Journal
"Another literary tour de force....At novel's end, the reader may want to start again from the beginning."--Kirkus Reviews (Starred)
"A superb, lyrically written yarn. Deft and delicious."--Providence Journal
"Well-wrought and suspenseful."--Buffalo News
"(A) tour-de-force...intense and gripping ...(a) beautifully crafted thriller "--Publishers Weekly (starred review)
