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William Morrow & Company

The Pale Blue Eye: A Novel

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Format: Paperback


Description

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 ReviewAn 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. Read more


Publisher ‏ : ‎ William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (June 12, 2007)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 448 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060733985


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 88


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.8 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 1.01 x 8 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #4,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #52 in Historical Mystery #54 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Books) #66 in Amateur Sleuths


#52 in Historical Mystery:


#54 in Private Investigator Mysteries (Books):


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Stoney Lonesome
This work somehow escaped me when first published. I served on the faculty at West Point as an Army officer and professor of psychology for sixteen years, and my long-ago West Point mystery SHADES OF GRAY (Viking, 1987), though set in the 1980's, drew its rationale from events in 1830--Bayard's West Point. It was good to see the author did his homework. I always considered Ethan Allen Hitchcock a good subject for storytelling--as did he, I suspect, as in his later years he spent time studying spiritualism. Sylvanus Thayer, stern as he was, sympathized with Poe to the extent of subsidizing publication of his early poetry. And the infamous Stoney Lonesome, a bare hilltop looming over West Point, was my home for three years. The quarters there had been built, or thrown together, on the cheap in the Sixties, and the plumbing never quite worked. I could sharpshoot details: Cozzens' Hotel was still 40 years in the future when Poe last stood reveille, for example, and the lady who wrote hymns at Gouverneur Kemble's party in Cold Spring--apparently Anna Warner, who penned "Jesus Loves Me"--was a young girl at the time. But Bayard captures the fragility of an institution barely hanging on to rocky cliffs over the cold Hudson, a symbol of dismay to many politicians (including David Crockett of Tennessee) philosophically inclined to mistrust a standing army and especially the Sullas and Caesars of a military elite (though quite a few cadets arriving in those days had to be taught to use a knife and fork). The windy phrases and sometimes overwrought prose bother some reviewers, but this is a first-person narrative by an educated gentleman in1830. This was the style as the Enlightenment finally yielded to Romanticism. More modern prose would simply have seemed off-key. Finally: the twist at the end. As I read it, I rebelled. But as I re-read it, it seemed to fit. We had to see the story through Landor's eyes, not Poe's. And the skeleton of Landor's agony is seen dimly through the pale, pellucid skin of his narrative. Obviously, some of it stuck to my fingers. Read the story. You will see what I mean. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2022 by Timothy R. O'Neill
    • Great Whodunnit
It's a great read - I haven't yet seen the movie so I don't know how they compare. This author wrangles in a half million clues that lead the reader to believe the villain must be a particular character, unless it might now be someone else, or hey, there's that possibility too. And just when you think you have the answer, there are five or so more chapters, meaning you do NOT have the answer after all. The author got kind of wordy sometimes with the lengthy rambles to get to a point, but unless you're just in a hurry to get the book finished, that winds up being part of the attraction. There was a lot of death and violence, some of it described in graphic terms, but there was not a lot of graphic sex or cursing which I greatly appreciate. From the previews I saw of the movie, I think it's probably going to follow the book fairly closely, meaning this is one or the other. I don't think I'll care for the movie after reading the book, and not sure I would have liked the book after seeing the movie. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2023 by Wendy's World
    • Fantastic Book with Terrible Ending
I was mesmerized by this novel. Great characters, suspenseful plot and atmosphere, and very affecting prose. However, when I got to the end and the guilty were identified, I was greatly disappointed. The outcome of this superb story was silly, convoluted and quite unbelievable. I'm sure the author is capable of writing a great ending to a story, but this most certainly wasn't it. I hope his other books fare better. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2023 by Jack M. Walter
    • Good story
It was a really good story line but the pacing and style were a little slow and meandering for my taste.
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023 by Annie
    • Labyrinths within mazes in a historical mystery
The historical and literary allusions in this mystery are lovely, but the characters are even finer, which made all the involved twists and turns really enjoyable! Poe, no less! A good engaging romp!
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2023 by wendy schaefer
    • Hitchcock Meets Poe
Kudos to Louis Bayard for this unique and cleverly crafted murder mystery set in the early days of The US Military Academy at West Point, an unlikely setting, but not as unusual as the casting of Cadet Fourth Class Edgar Allan Poe in a lead role. Poe indeed attended West Point - albeit briefly - a historical fact which the talented Bayard uses to full advantage in spinning a tale that apes Poe's macabre, eerie, surrealist style, while at the same time capturing intrigue and enigma that could pass for Arthur Conan Doyle. When a cadet is found hanged - an apparent suicide. But as if that is not enough, the corpse is posthumously desecrated with the removal of the young man's heart. West Point Superintendent Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, fearing political fallout for the fledging institution, calls in Augustus Landor, local resident and former New York City police detective of some renown, to investigate, hoping to keep the situation under control before Army bureaucrats descend. The wily Landor meets and is impressed with an intellectual and keenly observant young cadet - Poe of course - and reluctantly is granted permission to have Poe clandestinely assist in the investigation. It is a task Poe relishes and rises to with aplomb, setting for the stage for a Gothic tale of uncommon depth, where the opposing images of the New York's Hudson Valley's majestic splendor and unrelenting desolation provide the perfect backdrop to Bayard's chameleon prose. But there is so much more to "The Pale Blue Eye" than the author's clever spins on Poe, Doyle, and Washington Irving. This is an extensively researched labor of love with well-drawn characters, an atmosphere as moody as the reclusive Poe, and an illuminating slice of American culture in 1830. But most of all, it is simply a terrific story - one that takes twists and turns along the way, and just when you think you've got it figured out, turns around and jars you out of any self-congratulating complacency like West Point's reveille on those cold and damp winter mornings of the Hudson heights. Unlike Matthew Pearl's excellent but wordy "The Poe Shadow", "The Pale Blue Eye" moves quickly, dodging and weaving through deepening depravity to a climax as shocking and unexpected as anything Hitchcock has rendered. If I had a complaint, it is Bayard's subtle but condescending view of the cadets and administration of West Point - an unnecessary and unfair slight to the fine men (and women) of this venerable institution - but only a minor distraction not sufficient to curb my enthusiasm for this refreshingly original yarn. In short, one of those rare books that will keep you turning the pages way past the time you know you should be asleep - a true triumph of fiction in a historical setting. Well done, Mr. Bayard! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2008 by Gary Griffiths

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