Reviews

Bought on a whim, and was thoroughly impressed. Quality historical fiction with a riveting mystery. As a word lover I was also enthralled by the use of dialect and explanations of the criminal/street gang slang.

rachel_mft's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Loved this, and LOVED it as an audiobook. The narrator isn't great at women's voices, but there aren't many in this mostly masculine book, and he does an incredible job with this book. It's rich and compelling, and not too dark.

monicamjw's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

Good read on a trip to NYC - enjoyed the author's use of the old criminal language and the flavor of New York in a long gone era.

mkhaas29's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This book surprised me; I can’t recall how it came to be on my to-read shelf, but I’m glad it did. I had a lot of fun listening to this audiobook and found myself gripped by the story, wanting to keep going. The book painted such a vivid picture of New York in the 1840s, with characters speaking the lingo (at times tough to decipher as a listener without a written reference, but it doesn’t take much to catch on) from all walks of life. Timothy’s heart of gold may have been too pure at times, but the twists and turns of events kept you wanting to know more. And the biggest reveal of all to identify the culprit definitely caught me by surprise. Valentine and Tim’s troubled fraternal relationship felt believable and his dogged crush on Mercy resolved in a way that felt true to the story.

Overall, I was so pleasantly surprised by this. Glad I read it and will continue the series, eager to see where it takes our newfound characters.

minorasimulator's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

My main issue with this one is that it seems like there's a lot of filler in the middle that doesn't have all too much to do with the end game. Also the fact that Timothy is a punce when it comes to Mercy aggravates me to no end.

But at the same time like woah this mystery was very well done and I only managed to guess half of what actually happened, so props Lyndsay. You deffs had the wool over my eyes with this one.

kerrykerryboberry's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

sonham's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Lyndsay Faye entführt ihre Leser in das Jahr 1845 nach New York, einer Stadt voller Unruhen, Diebstählen und Verbrechen.
Sie versteht es ausgezeichnet, diesen Ort und seine Bewohner lebendig werden zu lassen. Oft hatte ich das Gefühl, neben Timothy Wilde, dem unerfahrenen Polizisten und Protagonisten, durch dunkle, stinkene Gassen zu schleichen oder über lärmende, überfüllte Plätze zu hasten.
Auch die Charaktere sind schillernd und vielschichtig - von den Hauptfiguren bis hin zu den Zeitungsjungs mit kurzen Auftritten. Ihre Entscheidungen und ihr Handeln ist nachvollziehbar und selbst die dunkelsten Motive entlocken dem Leser einen Hauch von Verständnis.
Es ist eine düstere Geschichte an einem düsteren Schauplatz, so detailreich geschildert, dass ich für Stunden völlig darin versunken bin, was mir nur noch selten beim Lesen passiert.
Ein rundum gelungenes Buch, dessen Menschen und Ereignisse mir noch lang in Erinnerung bleiben werden,
Band 2 habe ich bereits in der deutschen Übersetzung aus der Stadtbibliothek mitgenommen.

More...