On June 9, 1865, while traveling by train to London with his secret mistress, 53-year-old Charles Dickens–at the height of his powers and popularity, the most famous and successful novelist in the world and perhaps in the history of the world–hurtled into a disaster that changed his life forever. Did Dickens begin living a dark double life after the accident? Were his nightly forays into the … the worst slums of London and his deepening obsession with corpses, crypts, murder, opium dens, the use of lime pits to dissolve bodies, and a hidden subterranean London mere research . . . or something more terrifying?
Just as he did in “The Terror,” Dan Simmons draws impeccably from history to create a gloriously engaging and terrifying narrative. Based on the historical details of Charles Dickens’s life and narrated by Wilkie Collins (Dickens’s friend, frequent collaborator, and Salieri-style secret rival), DROOD explores the still-unsolved mysteries of the famous author’s last years and may provide the key to Dickens’s final, unfinished work: The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Chilling, haunting, and utterly original, DROOD is Dan Simmons at his powerful best. Bonus ebook included: Charles Dickens classic “The Signal-Man”- the haunting tale of a train worker tormented by ghostly predictions that is referenced in the novel.
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Intense page-turner I often had to put aside just to regain equilibrium before I had had the strength to continue. Well worth the read.
Such an interesting book. The premise is cool and I love historical novels that are fiction but center around real life people and real life events. The only issue with this book is the sheer staggering size of it. The author could have removed 100-200 pages and still have a fantastic novel. Not for the wishy washy reader.
I suspect DROOD is the Marmite of novels set in the Victorian era. Like all Simmons’ recent work, it is meticulously researched, but there also lies the problem, for he cannot stop himself from showing us that research on the page – not only the bits that are pertinent to the story, but too many of the bits that are merely interesting, but …
Great story that kept me reading through the night; which was probably a good thing, as it scared me a bit….. okay, a lot.
DAN SIMMONS NEVER DISAPPOINTS-ALWAYS ORIGINAL & CREATES WORLDS THAT YOU CAN LIVE IN
Boring
This is one of my all time favorite reads. Dark and twisted and beautifully crafted atmospheric horror. Psychological and visceral, Simmons really knows how to set a scene. Well plotted and paced. Loved reading all 800 pages or so of it. I took it on a trip and ignored my husband for a week because I couldn’t put it down.