“Shockingly clever and devoutly unsentimental...reads like a lost classic. Bayard reinvigorates historical fiction.” (New York Times Book Review )
“Another literary tour de force.…At novel’s end, the reader may want to start again from the beginning.” (Kirkus Reviews (Starred) )
“(A) tour-de-force…intense and gripping …(a) beautifully crafted thriller ” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) )
“Ingenious...with a rich knowledge of Poe’s life and work.” (Entertainment Weekly )
“Seemlessly blends Poe into an engrossing whodunit worthy of its inspiration. ” (USA Today )
“Exquisitely rendered character study, imaginatively Gothic, compelling.” (Miami Herald )
“Gracefully written...Bayard’s prose flows like silk, weightless but enveloping, and never shows its seams. (Salon.com )
“Bayard has produced a nuanced, wonderfully written tale, one worthy of the old master himself.” (Baltimore Sun )
“An uncanny and original portrait. Captures the imagination with exquisite details and a compelling, disquieting story.” (Denver Rocky Mountain News )
“Gruesomely entertaining.” (New York Times )
“Full of delightfully unexpected twists that continue to the very last pages of the novel.” (Denver Post )
“Brilliantly plotted and completely absorbing, ending with the kind of shock that few novelists are able to deliver.” (Sunday Times (London) )
“What makes this more than a well-crafted thriller…is Bayard’s gift for language. He paints incredibly vivid pictures.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution )
“Poe, an exacting critic...would have been impressed by Bayard’s intelligence and fluidity as a writer.” (Oregonian )
“A superb, lyrically written yarn. Deft and delicious.” (Providence Journal )
“Well-wrought and suspenseful.“ (Buffalo News )
“Finely executed prose…An exquisitely rendered character study, imaginatively gothic, compelling.” (Memphis Commercial Appeal )
“Skillful...lyrical...Moves methodically to the suspects, the motives, and the clues that twist and turn like the Hudson itself.” (Library Journal )
“Worthy of...high praise.” (Bookreporter.com )
“This book has it all--prose, plot and a terrifying conclusion...it will have you guessing to the very end.” (Hamilton Spectator (Canada) )
“A rich and finely wrought psychological study that is a fitting tribute to Poe himself.” (The Straits Times (Singapore) )
“Recommended. This novel is moody and rich in historic detail.” (Tucson Citizen )