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The Black Tower
by: Louis Bayard

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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061173509
ISBN: 0061173509
Label: William Morrow
Manufacturer: William Morrow
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: September 01, 2008
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: August 26, 2008
Sales Rank: 19862
Studio: William Morrow

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Product Description:

Vidocq. The name strikes terror in the Parisian underworld of 1818. As founder and chief of a newly created plainclothes police force, Vidocq has used his mastery of disguise and surveillance to capture some of Frances most notorious and elusive criminals. Now he is hot on the trail of a tantalizing mystery—the fate of the young dauphin Louis-Charles, son of Marie-Antoinette and King Louis XVI.

Hector Carpentier, a medical student, lives with his widowed mother in her once-genteel home, now a boardinghouse, in Pariss Latin Quarter, helping the family make ends meet in the politically perilous days of the restoration. Three blocks away, a man has been murdered, and Hectors name has been found on a scrap of paper in the dead mans pocket: a case for the unparalleled deductive skills of Eugène François Vidocq, the most feared man in the Paris police. At first suspicious of Hectors role in the murder, Vidocq gradually draws him into an exhilarating—and dangerous—search that leads them to the true story of what happened to the son of the murdered royal family.

Officially, the Dauphin died a brutal death in Pariss dreaded Temple—a menacing black tower from which there could have been no escape—but speculation has long persisted that the ten-year-old heir may have been smuggled out of his prison cell. When Hector and Vidocq stumble across a man with no memory of who he is, they begin to wonder if he is the Dauphin himself, come back from the dead. Their suspicions deepen with the discovery of a diary that reveals Hectors own shocking link to the boy in the tower—and leaves him bound and determined to see justice done, no matter the cost.

In The Black Tower, Bayard deftly interweaves political intrigue, epic treachery, cover-ups, and conspiracies into a gripping portrait of family redemption—and brings to life an indelible portrait of the mighty and profane Eugène François Vidocq, historys first great detective.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- lost dauphin found?
I love stories that speculate about the fate of vanished royals. Not only is the whole thing terribly tragic, but it's also an interesting commentary on the effect of revolutions that depose monarchs: the populace is desperate for the little princes and princesses to beat the odds and survive, possibly to be restored one day. The Romanovs hold the most fascination for me, followed closely by Louis-Charles, the lost dauphin and the subject of The Black Tower.

The novel begins with Dr. Hector Carpentier going about the monotonous routine that is his life, until he receives a visit from ruthless police chief Eugene Francois Vidocq. A man was murdered, and all that was found on his person was a calling card with Dr. Carpentier's name on it. What looks like a murder rapidly evolves into a search for the lost prince of the black tower, the would-be Louis XVII. Following the entires in a journal belonging to ... Read More

Rating:

- Bayard Makes His Book Come Alive
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 ... Read More

Rating:

- Hard to get into but extremely interesting
I almost gave up on this book, but I am glad I didn't. Louis Bayard has told an extremely well written, and interesting, story about the possibility that Louis-Charles (King Louis XVII) may have survived the French Revolution and was spirited away.

The story is told from the perspective of Hector Carpentier, a sometimes-doctor in Paris who's lured into the mystery by Inspector Vidocq, an actual historical character from 19th century Paris. Bayard's Vidocq is sort of a real-life Sherlock Holmes, although much more eccentric and less refined.

Unfortunately, the book is rather hard to get into because Bayard aims to tell an extremely complicated story with several twists and turns. For example, the book begins with an event that doesn't really tie into the main story for several chapters. The character of Vidocq is also an acquired taste in my opinion. I really didn't grow to like him until the ... Read More

Rating:

- Mystery and death in Restoration Paris
This book begins mysteriously, and there is an early murder which, at first sight, appears to have no relation to the principal protagonist. The detective on the case, however, uses his wits and knowledge to work at unravelling a mystery that is so convoluted it at times makes the mind reel. I understand this detective (who is based upon an actual French detective of that era) may have been the model for Poe's detective in "Murders in the Rue Morgue", and that is quite likely. There is almost non-stop action on every page, and this book is a real page turner! One shock and surprise after another awaits the lucky reader, and there are several twists at the end which turn the whole tale upside down. It's a very enjoyable read, and I highly recommend it!

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