Lucifer's Shadow

by David Hewson

Book Overview

In an ancient burial ground on an island off Venice, a young woman's casket is pried open, an object is wrenched from her hands, and an extraordinary adventure begins. From the moment he arrives in... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385337949
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.5" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Great book

Have read one other of his novels, and am hooked. I have the latest book waiting for an upcoming vacation, can't wait.

Music and intrigue in Venice

Venice, 1733 - A young Jewish violinist violates Venitian law and custom to perform with Vivaldi at La Pietà. But her ambition is larger, and she risks everything to have her own music, revealed anonymously, performed. The concerto is a resounding success, but greedy men prevent her from claiming the accolades she's due. In the ensuing struggle, the score for her composition is lost... Venice, today - Daniel Forster arrives in Venice to catalog an old man's library. In the process, he unearths a long-lost anonymous concerto, setting in motion another chain of tragedy. Caught up in a scheme to profit from the find, he finds himself cast in the unlikely role of composer. As he is pulled ever further into the intrigue, he struggles to protect his friends and save his own life. Well written, with complex and believable characters, these twin stories alternate as they progress down parallel paths. The past and present overlap, with surprising consequences. This is a wonderful tale, with beautiful and loving descriptions of both the city and the music. The use of Tintoretto's "Temptation of Christ" as a metaphor for the choices we make is especially powerful, and helps fuel the underlying themes of the book. With a wonderful setting, interesting characters, and a plot so full of twists it keeps you guessing right to the very end, what more could you ask for in a book?

Brilliant

I'll admit I was drawn to the book simply by the title and an interesting concept. And as it began I thought, briefly, that I may not enjoy the book at all. But that quickly turned, and as a result, I found this to be one of the best books I have ever read. A wonderful job is done of mixing the historic and modern stories, and it only appears to be predictable, when in fact, Hewson throws in a mix of twists and turns that leave you eager to read on. Well written, well thought out, and a definite page turner.

A melding of classic and contemporary styles

It was but a few short months ago that David Hewson was reintroduced to American readers with A SEASON FOR THE DEAD, the first of a projected series of novels featuring Italian State Police detective Nic Costa. The second novel in the series, THE VILLA OF MYSTERIES, has already seen European publication and is scheduled for American release next year. Hewson has a bit of a backlist that has not seen publication here. The issuance of LUCIFER'S SHADOW only a few months after A SEASON FOR THE DEAD is a welcome and important step toward remedying that literary shortfall, while constituting a blessing for readers who, with one novel, had become enthralled with Hewson's intricate plotting, and intelligent and literary narration. LUCIFER'S SHADOW consists of two stories, both of which are set in Venice but separated in time by almost three centuries. The events of the past dovetail into those of the present, with parallels that surprise, astound, shock and delight. A printer's apprentice in 18th-century Venice is drawn into a web of duplicity, jealousy and murder that centers on a brilliant orchestral work created by an anonymous composer, who is in fact a Jewess. Her nationality and gender compel her to keep her background and identity a secret, but also leave her vulnerable to blackmail. In present-day Venice, meanwhile, an English student named Daniel Forster has accepted a summer job that ostensibly involves cataloguing a private collector's library. Forster soon discovers, however, that his job and his employer are not what they initially seemed to be. Forster is in fact to be the go-between for his employer with a petty thief who has acquired an antique violin, a prize that is also sought by the shadowy Hugo Massiter, a wealthy and ruthless figure whose life is shrouded in fear and rumor. Forster's retrieval of the violin serves as the catalyst for a star-crossed romance with Laura, the household's servant, whose haunting beauty slowly and inexorably brings Forster under her hesitant sway. The acquisition of the violin, and the discovery of an abandoned musical manuscript, also provides the catalyst for a succession of violent acts that lead all concerned toward certain destruction. The two tales alternate chapters, for the most part, with Hewson keeping things moving at a deceptively sedate pace. He is no particular hurry to reach either denouement, yet everything is set forth with purpose. Hewson's research for this book is magnificent, as it was for A SEASON FOR THE DEAD. The reader is transported across space and time in this work, which demonstrates that the elements, good and bad, that make up the human condition remain constant, even with the tolling of the centuries. The parallels between both of the stories in LUCIFER'S SHADOW is presented subtlely, and when they converge for a brief moment, it is all the more startling for the presentation. Delacorte Press has somewhat defied conventional wisdom by publishing two works by a new (to t

tamtalising, mesmerising, and completely absorbing

Moving swiftly between tow subplots that are set three centuries apart (one subplot is set in 1700s Venice, while the other is in modern day Venice), and both focusing on the music world of both eras, David Hewson weaves another brilliantly gripping and mesmerizing tale of intrigue, deception and murder. A young Oxford academic, Daniel Foster is thrilled to be in Venice, esp since he's being paid a small stipend by Signor Scacchi to catalogue his library. Scacchi desperately hopes that Daniel will find some lost treasure that will replenish the ailing old man's much depleted coffers. What Daniel finds is a lost masterpiece for violin and orchestra. Excited, Scacchi comes up with a plan to fully exploit this find, a plan that will put Daniel firmly in the center of a maelstrom of deception, intrigue and murder, and that will bring him to the notice of the sinister and powerful antiques dealer, Hugh Massiter... Cut to 1733, where another young man, Lorenzo Scacchi, has come to Venice (upon the death of his parents) in order to work for his uncle, a well respected printer. It is the era of Canaletto and Vivaldi, and through his uncle, young Lorenzo finds himself rubbing elbows with the artists, the eccentric rich, and the beautiful and talented Rebecca. A musical prodigy, Rebecca (who is a Jew) is willing to break Venetian law that forbids her to play with Vivaldi (in a church) and after curfew, and the wholly smitten Lorenzo finds himself completely willing to help her escape all the social constraints placed on her in spite of the cost to the both of them (and their families) if they are found out! As both subplots of "Lucifer's Shadow" progress, it soon becomes evident both Daniel and Lorenzo are navigating the same path between treachery and honour; and as the intrigue and deception deepens ,it also becomes readily evident that the stakes are not so much survival as the price of one's soul... "Lucifer's Shadow" made for a truly absorbing read. The mysteries are many (from an old murder case of a young violinist, to the Scacchis and their connection to the violin piece that Daniel finds, to the sinister Hugh Massiter and his connection with everything), so that any lover of mystery and intrigue novels will be happily absorbed throughout. The pacing was swift and the descriptions of Venice (both in the 1700s & modern day) were lyrical and vivid. As for the manner in which the authour brought both subplots together, that was brilliantly done and rather clever. All in all, "Lucifer's Shadow" was a haunting and mesmerising novel, suspenseful and completely compelling.