I liked this one well enough, but I can’t say it wasn’t a little bit of a disappointment after liking Faye’s other books so much. The pacing was very uneven here and I wonder if cutting some of the material (the book is about 400 pages) would have helped. There’s a great book in here somewhere, surrounded by too much extra. One thing I really loved? The setting. I don’t think I’ve ever read pre-civil war historical fiction that isn’t pioneer-ish before. This takes place […]
The Gods of Gotham
Lindsay Faye’s extraordinary The Gods of Gotham is the best novel of its kind since Caleb Carr’s The Alienist. This isn’t a unique observation, it’s emblazoned across the cover of the novel. However I agree with it. I love big city historical fiction so taking a serial killer thriller and setting it in New York City in 1845 is always going to draw my interest. Faye goes a step further by making the origin of the New York City Police Department, and beginning of the […]