Nevermore

Rating:
Summary: Major disappointment
Review: The reviewer from Bogart, GA hit the nail on the head. By writing as Poe, Schechter was able to create the illusion of Poe telling this "true" tale. The problem is Poe's prose is deadly dull. With a delicate sensibility, "Poe's" narration avoids any mentions of things to horrible to convey to the gentle readers, leading the reader to fill in all the blanks. This technique starts as quaint, but rapidly becomes irksome .
The mystery is far fetched, but it is clever in the way it references Poe's work. Crockett's appearence as the frontier hero image he created for himself was a bit larger than life as was Poe's fainting at every horror. The portrayal of Poe's relationship to his cousin and future bride was appropriately creepy, but this occasional glimpse at the "real" Poe was buried amidst the dated Poe first person dialogue. A good idea, buried under literary pretensions.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but different
Review: This book is well written and teaches you many new expressions and words. I recommend this book to someone who is not in for a deep book, but is looking for a murder mystery along with a little twisted humor.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent parody of Poe's style
Review: Unless you are familiar with EA Poe's works, you might want to steer clear of this. But if you have read his stories and poetry, this affectionate parody of his style is a scream. The plot is nothing more than a device to hang reworkings of Poe's fevered and overwrought (by 20th century standards) prose. Don't take it seriously, and you'll enjoy the ride.