On Night's Shore

Edgar Allan Poe #1

by Randall Silvis

The year is 1840 and New York City is captivated by the mysterious murder of a beautiful shopgirl. The discovery of the body of Mary Rogers in the Hudson River prompts a young journalist, Edgar Allan Poe, to search for the truth behind an apparently motiveless crime. Joining him in his investigation is Augie Dubbins, an orphaned street urchin who becomes Poe's most trusted ally. Using intuition and rational thinking, Poe and Augie recreate the last days of the victim's secret life.

Narrated by the precocious Augie, the story swings wildly from the hidden depths of the Five Points slums to the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue society. As Poe and his sidekick gather information, a sadistic killer threatens to destroy everything they've worked for. The clock is ticking, and Poe must solve the mystery or become a victim himself.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Fiction, Historical, Mystery Thriller, Historical Mystery, Crime

368 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Randall Silvis is the internationally acclaimed author of over a dozen novels, one story
collection, and one book of narrative nonfiction. Also a prize-winning playwright, a
produced screenwriter, and a prolific essayist, he has been published and produced in
virtually every field and genre of creative writing. His numerous essays, articles, poems and short stories have appeared in the Discovery Channel magazines, The Writer, Prism International, Short Story International, Manoa, and numerous other online and print magazines. His work has been translated into 10 languages.

Silvis’s many literary awards include two writing fellowships from the National
Endowment for the Arts, the prestigious Drue Heinz Literature Prize, a Fulbright Senior Scholar Research Award, six fellowships for his fiction, drama, and screenwriting from the Pennsylvania Council On the Arts, and an honorary Doctor of Letters degree awarded for “distinguished literary achievement.”

Reviews

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully written, with a delicious sense of place, On Night's Shore is a fictional account of Edgar Allan Poe's investigation of the murder of Mary Rogers. This real-life murder was the inspiration for Poe's second mystery featuring C. Auguste Dupin, "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt," and I'd recommend reading both that story and a book about its inspiration and conception, The Beautiful Cigar Girl: Mary Rogers, Edgar Allan Poe, and the Invention of Murder , first in order to get the most out of this novel.

I expected to enjoy the sense of mystery/detection Randall Silvis provides, and I did, but I was especially taken with the sensitive and subtle characterization Silvis provides Poe, his terminally ill wife Virginia, and his aunt/mother-in-law (or "Muddy"). The point of view character, Augie Dubbins, a street urchin who becomes Poe's assistant and sometimes caretaker, is also a remarkably compelling character in his own right, and his poignant glimpses into the Poe family's dynamic comprise some of the most moving aspects of the book.

There is a second novel in this duology, Disquiet Heart, and I definitely plan to read it.

[Diabolika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Penso sia più facile apprezzare questo libro se non lo si pensa come un giallo, ma come un romanzo storico con un personaggio principale di eccezione: Edgar Allan Poe, giornalista investigativo. La trama, infatti, si dipana molto lentamente; la soluzione del mistero presenta tanti, troppi colpi di scena, alcuni poco credibili; Poe ed il suo giovane amico (Augie) prendono un bel po’ di cantonate prima di capire la verità. Tuttavia il libro mi è piaciuto, anche se per altri motivi.

Lo stile elaborato si presta benissimo per raccontare una storia ambientata nella New York di metà Ottocento. Le immagini di questa città in costante trasformazione sono molto vivide: mi sono sentita addosso la sporcizia dei quartieri bassi, ho respirato il fumo delle bettole, ho inalato l’odore acre degli alcolici di bassa qualità, ho avuto paura della polizia corrotta e dei loro manganelli. Poe e Augie sono due investigatori dilettanti quanto ingenui, ma la loro relazione intenerisce il cuore: Augie trova in Poe il padre che non ha mai avuto; Poe trova in Augie l’amico fidato che gli mancava. I due “eroi” sono circondati da una serie di personaggi tanto ben caratterizzati quanto convincenti.

Ho trovato intrigante come RS abbia giocato con il personaggio Poe. Per sua stessa ammissione, ha cercato di descriverlo in modo veritiero, presentandoci le sue idiosincrasie (dal gusto del macabro al piacere del bere); la sua costante condizione di miseria e povertà; Virginia, la moglie-bambina eternamente malata; la suocera “Muddy”. I corvi sono un punto di riferimento costante: svolazzano nella campagna intorno a New York, impazzano nei sogni di Poe, chiudono la storia (il romanzo finisce con Poe che inizia a scrivere uno dei suoi racconti più famosi). Nella parte finale, RS riesce pienamente a ricreare l’atmosfera tipica dei racconti di Poe, dove paura, terrore, ed ansia, accompagnano i nostri eroi fino allo svelamento del mistero.

Fino alla fine sono stata indecisa tra 3 o 4 stelle (3,5 sarebbe stata la mia valutazione). Non potendolo usare le mezze stelle, ho deciso per 3, per via dei troppi colpi di scena, un po’ improbabili, nella soluzione del mistero.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Night’s Shore by Randall Silvis is a fictional account of real events.

Much like Edgar Allen Poe, Randall Silvis has a way with words. Whether this is a good or bad thing is completely up to the reader. The writing felt like Silvis had sat down with a dictionary picking as many large words as possible. It was more than a little disconcerting especially when one considers that the narrator is a street urchin.

Once one has become more comfortable with Mr. Silvis’ writing style, then it is easy to enjoy the story itself. It is easy to become drawn into the narrative and to follow along as Poe gathers information. And much like the detective C. Auguste Dupin, Poe’s genius is evident as he pieces the clues together.

This is the first book I have read by Randall Silvis. As a fan of Edgar Allen Poe, finding a novel with the famed author as the main character was a treat. I enjoy a good murder mystery and was hoping to enjoy this particular story.

It pleases me to say that I enjoyed reading On Night’s Shore very much. And it is one that I would recommend to my readers.

[Ardesia]

Anche se il giallo che fa da perno alla trama del romanzo non mi ha coinvolto un granché, mi è comunque piaciuta la descrizione della New York di quasi due secoli fa - un enorme paesone pseudo-rurale che in pratica aveva gli stessi problemi sociali della metropoli in cui si è trasformata oggi - e mi ha affascinato il tentativo di riportare alla luce la complessa personalità di E. A. Poe uomo e scrittore.
Mi incuriosiscono molto i romanzi che prendono spunto da opere di altri e in cui viene tessuto un continuo gioco di riferimenti e richiami al testo a cui si rifanno e a chi lo scrisse.
Quando un autore diventa personaggio, il gioco di specchi, se ben fatto, va a creare quell'unica dimensione in cui è possibile carpire la vera essenza di quello scrittore. D'altronde chi ha passato la propria esistenza a creare personaggi e a tesserne le trame come potrebbe essere compreso se non diventando in qualche misura personaggio della trama delle proprie creazioni?

[Steve Payne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a big fan of the Ryan DeMarco series so I thought I'd check this out. I'm so glad I had read the Ryan DeMarco books first or I probably would have missed out a delightful series. The idea behind the story is actually quite interesting. The story itself is interesting. I really struggled with the language. This is supposedly written by a reformed street urchin 30-50? years after the events occurred. An uneducated street arab? The prose is actually quite lyrical but my flow was constantly interrupted as I read because I had to constantly look up words on my phone while reading. It's as if the author cherished his thesaurus. The other issue I had with the book is Poe isn't a very endearing character. I wanted to smack him around myself.

[Suzze Tiernan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very well-written mystery, set in the 1840's with Edgar Allan Poe as a main character. I liked it enough that I ordered the next in the series right away. Not for anyone that has trouble figuring out what an unusual word means by the context. I have never seen so many words in one book that I had never seen before! LOL

[Tracey M. Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Randall Silvis is a most talented and original author!!

This novel was a delightful surprise to me. I was not surprised at loving the story, as I have loved ALL books by Randall Silvis. I was surprised at how completely I was transported to another time by a storyteller who truly seemed to be FROM that time. It felt like reading from a contemporary of Poe or Dickens or Louisa May Alcott. In all Silvis' books, the content reads and feels more like literature. Never more so than in this novel, where he takes on the challenge of inserting an actual literary figure, Poe, as a main character in the story. The story is beautiful and thoroughly enjoyed by me! I feel the urge now (which I will follow through on) to read a biography on Poe. I love Poe's works, but never explored further on the author himself. My curiosity is now piqued. He is a character who draws the reader to him. We find him to be likeably sympathetic, galant, principled, protective, admirable, pained and wonderfully flawed. Knowing that Silvis would have studied the author and man in depth, I am hopeful that Poe humself comes close to the one portrayed by the author in this tale. There is a good mystery to be solved in the story, with Poe himself being perhaps the mystery that draws the reader even more strongly. Love, love, love the characters....all so real, diaglogue all so realistic. The narration of the story through the ten year old boy of the story, but told by him when he is an old man, is perfection! Randall Silvis NEVER disappoints! I love than he always explores different types of stories, trying new things on that his readers haven't seen before. The strong commonality among his stories is excellence!

[Randal · Rating 2 out of 5]

A social history about rich and poor in 19th Century New York, and a crime story with little suspense. My big problem with the book is the liberties it takes with Poe himself. He won renown as a writer, but otherwise, he wasn't much: An alcoholic and possible drug user who repeatedly used people's good faith to further his own ends. A failed gambler and always awful with money; he manipulated his way into West Point and out again. You can argue that his difficult childhood (orphaned at an early age but adopted into wealth, so not entirely Dickensian) had much to do with it, but in short, a bit of an asshole.
Along comes this book, and he's a sensitive, supportive, mostly steadfast hero, sacrificing much for his odd family and young ward. If you want to make Poe a hero, fine. But take on the warts and failures, don't turn him into something he wasn't.

[Loren C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t think I’m going to finish this book. It’s written in a way that’s about half Dickens half Poe, and I’m not a big fan of either one. Poe is alright but only when he’s doing horror, and this book is just a fictional 1800s murder mystery. And not a particularly good one, you just have to follow people here and there learning things either as they learn them or after, with it explained or over-explained, giving the reader very little free rein to think about whodunit yourself. And maybe it seems like someone did it but then it turns out they obviously didn’t because of something someone’s been keeping under their hat rather than something the reader could pick up on and be in suspense about.

[Magda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una splendida ambientazione per questo romanzo che unisce vari stili: giallo, romanzo storico, romanzo vittoriano. In una New York di metà 1800 si muove un inaspettato detective, free lance presso il Mirror e novello romanziere e cioè Edgar Allan Poe. Deve indagare a proposito della strana morte di Mary Rogers, ritrovata nelle fredde acque del fiume Hudson. Ad accompagnarlo un piccolo amico, Augie, sveglio abbastanza da salvare la vita a quasi tutti i personaggi della storia.
Non mancheranno i colpi di scena, gli intrighi politici del tempo e sopra a tutto la miseria e il sudiciume di una New York lontanissima dalle luci della ribalta di oggi.

[Deborah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved that the author used E.A. Poe has the hero of this story. It certainly inspired me to re-read my Poe! The who-done-it was great, but I kept wishing that there weren't quite so many well-placed references that would supposedly be the impetus for the further writings of Poe.

This is a series and I didn't rush out to get the 2nd; however, it could be a future pick just to see how the author's story-telling grows.

[P.A. Pursley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of Edgar Allan Poe and was a little hesitant to read this book simply because everyone has their own take on the famous author. Randall Silvis does a beautiful job of giving voice to Poe and does a beautiful job of representing his intelligence and darkness. I truly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the follow up book.

If you are fan of Poe and enjoy reading period stories...this book is for you!

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edgar Allan Poe as a fictional character? OK! I enjoyed the setting of New York City in the 1800's. I loved his street urchin protégée. The two work together to solve a murder. The story was interesting and beautifully written. If you pay attention, you will find "inspirations" for Poe's literary works. I just learned there is a second book in the series. Yes, please.

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely for the Poe lovers or literary types!

Enjoyed Edgar Allen Poe as a detective. Found his reaction to drink interesting. Well-written and quite descriptive, but at least 1/3rd of the description could be cut without hurting the story or the writing. I am looking forward to the next book in the series and watching the narrator mature.

[Bob Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well-written book about life in New York City in the days before the Civil War. Edgar Allen Poe is a newspaperman investigating the death of a young woman. The magic of the book is the sense that you could be spending the day with Poe, assisting him in solving the crime. The book has the feel of a book written by James Lee Burke. The descriptive prose is that good.

[Deborah Necessary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A body is found under a pier by a street urchin, who is taken under the wing of Edgar Allen Poe. Together this young boy, Augie, and Poe are plunged into a murder mystery that takes them to the lowest slums in New York to glittering Fifth Avenue.

[Gian Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Siamo nel 1800 a New York, la voce narrante è il ricordo di quanto ragazzino di 10 anni si imbatte in omicidio e Edgar Allan Poe, per un sodalizio affettivo e di indagine. Pur originale nell’impianto affatica una scrittura pesante e piatta, eccessiva nella drammatizzazione senza riuscirvi.

[Palacios · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the idea of using Edgar Allan Poe as a character and I believe the author portrayed him well in this story. I would recommend this for the Poe fans out there.

[Jim Swike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read enough to give a proper review. Enjoy!

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This historical fiction mystery recreates Edgar Allan Poe as an investigative journalist who is attempting to solve the mystery of Mary Rogers’s murder. Historically, Rogers’s case inspired Poe’s detective tale “The Mystery of Marie Roget,” which is a sequel to “The Murders in the Rue Morgue.” Joining Poe on this adventure is ten-year-old Auggie Dubbins, who narrates the story as an adult reflecting upon this past adventure.

The story began rather slowly for me with an isolated incident which leads Auggie to the discovery of Mary’s body. It’s some time later that he meets Poe and builds up the trust necessary to show him the body and then get the action started. Once things got going, though, I became engaged in the story and appreciated the various nods to Poe’s works and the insight offered into his personal life.

The book is well-researched with rich details from the time period and the personal lives of the historical figures. The language is advanced, as Auggie’s vocabulary improved as he matured, thanks to his respect and admiration for Poe’s use of precise language.

I enjoyed the mystery as Poe’s more privileged background and Auggie’s gutter-rat insight work different angles to move them toward the truth. These two characters complement each other well and it was enjoyable to watch them play off of each other. They run into some dead ends and eventually find themselves in no small amount of danger as they get closer. The mystery aspect was well plotted and kept me guessing.

The book veers off course a bit from time to time, mostly to explore Auggie’s personal life and what the future holds for him. Though they were historically interesting, I felt that these tangents slowed the pace quite a bit.

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy historical fiction or leisurely mysteries.

• Extreme language, infrequent
• Sexual situations are referenced, including prostitution and abortions
• Violence is somewhat explicit—strangling, cutting, suffocation, abuse, etc.
• Characters smoke and drink, and there is reference to addiction to drugs and alcohol.

[Dani · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the first book in "The Poe Series," "On Night's Shore" is a fun bit of historical fiction that taught me much that I didn't previously know about Edgar Allen Poe. The series had been recommended to me a couple of years ago, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. I thought it might be related to the recent John Cusack film, "The Raven," so I figured it was about time to check it out. Now that I have read it, however, I don't actually think there is a connection between the film and the books other than Poe being the central character. It's a fun murder mystery narrated by a young street urchin/fictional companion of Poe's. Poe, in the time period of the book, is living in NYC with his young wife and her mother, and working as a literary critic/freelance newspaper writer... very near poverty. I liked it... enough that I'll probably read the next in the series, but was not left in a rush to do so.

[Deanna Lack · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this one, and I've had it on my shelves for ages. It's a murder mystery set in 1849 New York. Augie is a " gutter rat" and all but an orphan when he finds a body in the Hudson, and on that same day meets one Mr E A Poe, a reporter working for the Daily Mirror. The writer takes young Augie under his wing and together they attempt to solve the mystery of the murder.

I'm not generally a murder mystery fan, but the historical fiction and literary context I enjoyed very much, as well as Mr Silvis's flowery writing style that seemed very appropriate for a book set in the Victorian era. The plot has plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested, and both Augie and Poe are absolutely engaging as co-protagonists. Definitely recommended.

[Melle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A historical fiction mystery involving a then-ten year-old narrator who uses vocabulary well outside the range of ten year-olds and well-suited for people who like mysteries or people who might be a little prudish about sex (which is briefly alluded to) but who are okay with some extreme and graphic violence (a category of folk that always baffles me).

This incorporates interesting little details and not-so-little figures from 1840's era United States, the story is engaging enough, and references to Poe and his works are pleasantly understated and subtle.

[Ruth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about Edgar Allen Poe and the solving of a murder of a young woman, part fact/part fiction, narrated by the 10 yr. old Auggie Dubbins. I liked the narrative and storyline, thought some parts quite humorous and some very sad. I enjoyed the insight into E.A. Poe, his personality, his quirks and his devotion to family. This was a first time read of this author and I liked his style of writing and the conversations with good guys and bad guys!! I am going to read the next in the series to see what happens there!

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book - it was interesting to see the author's perspective on Poe's early days. In the beginning of the book there was a pretty high vocabulary level. I enjoy a good SAT word now and then, but made the story a bit cumbersome for me. As the story progressed, I noticed it less and less.

[Terry Lee Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The premise of this book was very interesting. I loved reading about young Poe, a newpaper reporter here, trying to solve a murder with a street urchin he meets in 1800's New York. This is fictional, but through the book, the author gives hints of stories Poe would write in reality.

I would suggest this book to any Poe fan.

[steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit over-written and he uses the same "big" words over and over but I didn't figure out who done it, which is key. I don't usually try very hard to figure mysteries out, since I prefer to watch them unfold.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting mystery written from the perspective of Edgar Allan Poe as a journalist in 1840 undercovering the death of a shop girl. It was very well written, but I found it slow moving until about halfway through. Poe admirers would certainly appreciate it.

[Boyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read, and the description of New York in Poe's time is pretty accurate. To get more out of the story, it would help to be familiar with the murder of Mary Rogers.