THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES
Elizabeth Redfern, . . Putnam, $24.95 (420pp) ISBN 978-0-399-14763-0
This British first novel is a historical thriller in the vein of Caleb Carr and Iain Pears, with maximum melodramatic coloring. All the characters, including the protagonist, Jonathan Absey, a civil servant whose daughter has been strangled by what seems to be a serial killer in late 18th-century London, are deeply flawed, and part of the problem with the book is that it is so unremittingly downbeat, with no glimmer of hope that anything will improve for its large cast. As the French Revolution is entering its second phase and its supporters are hoping to beat off an invading Royalist army backed by Britain, London has never seemed more dank and corrupt. Even the little group of French exiles and their hangers-on who are the heart of the story are mostly rotten to the core: the beautiful
Reviewed on: 05/28/2001
Genre: Fiction
Mass Market Paperbound - 496 pages - 978-0-515-13239-7
Open Ebook - 400 pages - 978-0-7865-2136-4
Paperback - 432 pages - 978-0-425-23698-7
Paperback - 420 pages - 978-0-425-20538-9