Kirkus Reviews
"Young-adult novelist Sedgwick returns to Paris in his second book for adults, this time to La Belle Epoque, weaving murder and memory into an intense thriller. Beautifully woven. Characters are shaped subtly but colorfully. The narrative voice has an old-fashioned address-the-reader aura. Marvelously imagined and sure to appeal to readers who enjoy an intelligent thriller."
Publishers Weekly (starred)
"Fin de siècle Paris provides the backdrop for this outstanding thriller from Sedgwick, who creates a sense of intimacy with the reader through darkly humorous omniscient narration reminiscent of Dumas. Sedgwick thoughtfully explores fundamental questions about the relationship of memory and identity."
Mystery Scene
"A memorable book for many reasons; including an ending that Despres and his prodigious mind deserve."
Bookreporter
"A historical thriller that will not be easy for readers to forget."
School Library Journal
"While the intriguing setup and the fascinating characters will rivet readers, there’s more to this novel than a mere murder mystery—this work offers a deep examination of memory: how it changes, how it imprisons, and how it eventually brings answers. A quality crime drama; hand to readers who appreciate thought-provoking mystery or historical fiction."
Historical Novel Society
"Marcus Sedgwick is a prolific author of YA novels, which shows in his simple, direct language, fast pace and eventful plot. It does not deter him from opening up profound existential themes. A thriller that makes you think."
Criminal Element
"A fascinating look at the power of the human mind to solve problems both internal and external, set in one of the most important, progressive periods of modern history. Sedgwick pays tribute to Belle Epoque Paris with a tale that is lovingly aware of its setting, which is perhaps the only time and place that a crime this complex, with characters this bizarre and compelling, could have been both perpetrated and ultimately solved."
Booklist (starred) [praise for 'A Love Like Blood']
Sedgwick’s prose is nothing short of gorgeous. Here’s a novel that tastes of blood and dust, just as a fine old-fashioned horror novel should.
Joe R. Lansdale [praise for 'A Love Like Blood']
Manages to play with vampire tropes while lifting the novel to stranger, more compelling heights. A great read.
John Ajvide Lindqvist
Classy, elegant, and gripping. You start reading and then go on and on, unable to stop.
Kirkus Reviews
2016-12-19
Young-adult novelist Sedgwick (A Love Like Blood, 2015) returns to Paris in his second book for adults, this time to La Belle Epoque, weaving murder and memory into an intense thriller.From Île de la Cité to Pigalle, every nook and cranny of Paris-on-the-page provides a telling backdrop to the misadventures of Marcel Després, a peasant boy-turned-savant. Marcel remembers every detail of everything that has ever happened to him. This talent was undiscovered—in fact, unrealized—until he arrived in Paris from the vineyards of his native Étoges. In dire straits, Marcel's artist friends transform his perfect memory into a stage act as Marcel Mémoire at the Cabaret of Insults. Soon naïve Marcel marries cabaret dancer Ondine, who's extraordinarily beautiful and practiced in using beauty as currency. Finding Ondine in flagrante delicto one day, Marcel strikes out and is immediately arrested for her murder. Too quickly, the legal process secrets him in an asylum. Sureté detective Petit is suspicious. Petit's curiosity soon becomes a Javert-like obsession. Dr. Morel, the asylum's Assistant Chief Alienist, at first thinks Marcel is catatonic, but he soon discovers that he's "lost in labyrinths" of infinite memories. Beautifully woven, the story soon becomes a tapestry of love and innocence, obsession and intellectual arrogance framed by corruption, assassination, and sexual perversion with a bit part for Russia's Communist-hunting Okhrana secret service. Characters are shaped subtly but colorfully. Marcel navigates through the story much like Chance in Jerzy Kosinski's Being There as Morel muses on the link between memory and identity. With chapter titles like "A Few Words About Magic," the narrative voice has an old-fashioned address-the-reader aura. Marvelously imagined and sure to appeal to readers who enjoy an intelligent thriller.
