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Book Summary and Reviews of The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye

The Fatal Flame by Lyndsay Faye

The Fatal Flame

by Lyndsay Faye

  • Critics' Consensus (1):
  • Published:
  • May 2015, 480 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

No one in 1840s New York likes fires, but Copper Star Timothy Wilde least of all. So when an arsonist with an agenda begins threatening Alderman Robert Symmes, a corrupt and powerful leader high in the Tammany Hall ranks, Wilde isn't thrilled to be involved. His reservations escalate further when his brother Valentine announces that he'll be running against Symmes in the upcoming election, making both himself and Timothy a host of powerful enemies.

Meanwhile, the love of Wilde's life, Mercy Underhill, unexpectedly shows up on his doorstep and takes under her wing a starving orphan with a tenuous grasp on reality. It soon becomes clear that this wisp of a girl may be the key to stopping those who have been setting fire to buildings across the city - if only they can understand her cryptic descriptions and find out what she knows. Boisterous and suspenseful, The Fatal Flame is filled with beloved Gotham personalities as well as several new stars, culminating in a fiery and shocking conclusion.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. As in her previous books, Faye's diligence in researching the period is manifest, and readers will feel transported back to mid-19th-century Manhattan." - Publisher's Weekly

"More fine work from a writer smart enough to know when a series has run its course. It will be exciting to see what the talented Faye decides to do next." - Kirkus

This information about The Fatal Flame was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

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Author Information

Lyndsay Faye Author Biography

Photo: Gabriel Lehner

Lyndsay Faye moved to Manhattan in 2005 to audition as a professional actress; her schedule opened up when her day-job restaurant was knocked down with bulldozers. Her first novel Dust and Shadow: an Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson is a tribute to the aloof genius and his good-hearted friend whose exploits she has loved since childhood. After writing fifteen additional short stories over the next six years, she collected them in the critically acclaimed The Whole Art of Detection: Lost Mysteries of Sherlock Holmes.

Faye's fascination with the origins of the New York City Police Department led to her first Best Novel Edgar Award nomination; The Gods of Gotham, Seven for a Secret, and The Fatal Flame follow ex-bartender Timothy Wilde as he navigates the rapids of his ...

... Full Biography
Author Interview
Link to Lyndsay Faye's Website

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