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The Black Tower LP
List Price: $24.95Our Price: $18.96 You Save: $5.99 (24%)Prices subject to change.
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780061668326
Format: Large Print
ISBN: 006166832X
Label: HarperLuxe
Manufacturer: HarperLuxe
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 512
Publication Date: September 01, 2008
Publisher: HarperLuxe
Release Date: September 16, 2008
Studio: HarperLuxe
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Editorial Review: 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 France's 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 Paris's 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 Hector's name has been found on a scrap of paper in the dead man's pocket: a case for the unparalleled deductive skills of Eugène François Vidocq, the most feared man in the Paris police. At first suspicious of Hector's 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 Paris's 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 Hector's 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, history's first great detective.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
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 ... 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 ... Read More
Rating: - Couldn't put it down, but not quite 5 stars
I began reading this book on a Saturday morning and didn't stop until I'd finished it later that day. If you haven't ready any of Louis Bayard's novels, this is an excellent place to start and showcases his skills as an author. He is a very capable writer of historical fiction, weaving a first-person narrative with flashbacks from a long-lost journal to re-create France during the first years of the Restoration and the Revolution. The plot moves quickly, and Bayard successfully employs "cliff-hanger" ... Read More
Rating: - So what really did happen to the prince in the tower?
The story of the little boy prince in the tower has fascinated people ever since the French revolution. Bayard takes the question of what happened to the prince and twists it into a really wonderful historical mystery. Well written and fast paced, this book is sure to satisfy anyone who loves a clever thriller with lots of twists and turns. Don't expect you can guess the ending until the ending! r.
Hector, who once trained to be a doctor but frittered away his inheritance on a woman, is ... Read More
Rating: - Intriguing until the end - Great for fans of Vidocq and detective stories
Being a big fan of Vidocq and Sherlock Holmes stories, I was excited when I was offered the opportunity to read an advance reader's edition of Louis Bayard's "The Black Tower".
The book tells the story of Hector Carpentier, who all of a sudden becomes involved in a mysterious murder of a man he never met, but who was on his way to meet him when he was killed. Vidocq (former criminal turned detective) then comes in as he is investigating the murder of the person in question.
The premise ... Read More
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