What do you think?
Rate this book
The Man Who Was Edgar Allan Poe #1
Poe: The Darkness Within
London, 1886
When a stranger with peculiar head injuries is admitted to Bethlem Asylum the doctors are confounded by his permanent inability to recover his memory. Without any form of identity and suffering bizarre nightmares the stranger soon finds out that he is somehow linked to a deceased nobleman who bequeaths him a farm in the Southern African Cape Colonies. After an attempt is made on his life by a clandestine order of assassins, he flees to Cape Town.
Before long his presence in the Cape Colonies is questioned, even feared, for the farm he had inherited has a sinister reputation already. By association he is quickly blamed for an outbreak of brutal serial murders of which his memory loss does not absolve him.
He meets Eleonora Rudd, daughter of De Beers magnate Charles Dunnell Rudd, and a reluctant romance ensues. Unfortunately the corrupt Cape Town Police Chief and Eleonora's fiance uses his influence to turn the Cape Town people against the stranger who introduces himself as Poe. Apart from Eleonora and a local gravedigger called Rowlf as allies, Poe is pursued as suspect. But when Eleonora is taken by the killer, Poe and Rowlf are forced to unearth the malevolent nature of the man who lurks in Cape Town, killing women of all creeds with bestial cruelty.
In order to save his beloved, Poe races against time and evidence to track down her captor and hopefully find her still alive. But what they discover is something worse than the fate of death.
When a stranger with peculiar head injuries is admitted to Bethlem Asylum the doctors are confounded by his permanent inability to recover his memory. Without any form of identity and suffering bizarre nightmares the stranger soon finds out that he is somehow linked to a deceased nobleman who bequeaths him a farm in the Southern African Cape Colonies. After an attempt is made on his life by a clandestine order of assassins, he flees to Cape Town.
Before long his presence in the Cape Colonies is questioned, even feared, for the farm he had inherited has a sinister reputation already. By association he is quickly blamed for an outbreak of brutal serial murders of which his memory loss does not absolve him.
He meets Eleonora Rudd, daughter of De Beers magnate Charles Dunnell Rudd, and a reluctant romance ensues. Unfortunately the corrupt Cape Town Police Chief and Eleonora's fiance uses his influence to turn the Cape Town people against the stranger who introduces himself as Poe. Apart from Eleonora and a local gravedigger called Rowlf as allies, Poe is pursued as suspect. But when Eleonora is taken by the killer, Poe and Rowlf are forced to unearth the malevolent nature of the man who lurks in Cape Town, killing women of all creeds with bestial cruelty.
In order to save his beloved, Poe races against time and evidence to track down her captor and hopefully find her still alive. But what they discover is something worse than the fate of death.
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 22, 2014
12 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 23, 2020
A master in the literary collection, a man of darkness. Burns gives an amazing story filled with adventure and mystery of who he was. Enjoyed the narration which helped bring this out. Given audio for my voluntary review and my honest opinion
Displaying 1 of 1 review