- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: Robinson Publishing; New edition edition (July 25 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1841195650
- ISBN-13: 978-1841195650
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,732,476 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
'Shows how a society that is founded on inequality and injustice can be a perfect hunting-ground for the deranged... Saylor goes to considerable trouble to make the atmosphere of the place feel authentic.' - Times Literary Supplement; 'A riveting mystery... fascinating and provocative' - The New York Times; 'This captivating historical romance noir should be heralded a breakout for the seasoned author.' - Publishers Weekly; 'Saylor, a veteran of the historical novel... saves a cunning twist for the end.' - Washington Post Book World; 'A convincing account of old-time, good-old-boy Southern corruption and bigotry.' - The Spectator
Book Description
The year is 1885. A brutal killer is terrorizing the streets of Austin, Texas, and panic engulfs the city as one black servant after another is slain. The spectre of bigotry emerges when lawmen indict a black man but as the bodies continue to mount it becomes apparent that the killer is still on the loose...and the resulting trial uncovers one explosive scandal after another, threatening to tear the city of Austin apart. Steven Saylor, author of the resoundingly successful series of murder mysteries set in Ancient Rome [Roma Sub Rosa], proves his sure touch with this sinister and gripping thriller set nearer our own times, with resonances that still ring out.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gory, gory, hallelujah!, Nov 13 2011
By still searching - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Honour the Dead (Paperback)
This story is a wonderfully written fictionalised account of the crimes committed against, mainly, black servant women in the recent post-civil war era in Austin, Texas and, as such, represents something of a departure for its author. Saylor is rightly lauded for his Sub Rosa series featuring first century B.C.E sleuth Giordianus the finder in novels such as Roman Blood. However, this book is also about crimes, and particularly horrible ones at that, and their solutions in the context of a society in which slavery, although technically abolished, is still, effectively, part of the `mind-set' of its members, both black and white.The story of the crimes is skilfully interspersed, by Saylor, with that of the renowned short story writer, O. Henry, the nom-de-plume of William Sydney Porter, who lived in Austin at the same time that the murders took place, and also features other prominent contemporaries, such as Elizabeth Ney, the celebrated sculptor of German origin, who sculpted the busts of several Texan notables of the time. But the real strength of the story is the way in which it reveals the ingrained attitudes of the controlling white population towards their black and largely servile `fellow' citizens. Moreover, the story illustrates how such attitudes blinded the law enforcement officers of the time to the possibility that the crimes could have been committed by those other than of black African racial origin.
As well as the crimes at the book's core the story, which is told partly in flash-back, is also about first love and the coming of age of a young man grown to middle age as he reflects on his youth and the choices he made when young and inexperienced.
The narrative pace is quite slow and suited to the gradual unfolding of the gruesome events that gripped the city at the time and one which is entirely in keeping with a seemingly valid evocation of the pace with which life was then lived. Nevertheless, the deftly drawn, engaging characters, Saylor's prose and adroit hand at authentic sounding dialogue ensure the reader's rapt attention from the first word to the last.
14 of 61 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
An odd coverage of an uninteresting event, July 25 2005
By Daniel R. KilloranPhD - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Honour the Dead (Paperback)
The author points out that this series of crimes is of little importance and has largely been forgotten. It will remain so.
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