Lucifer's Shadow

By: David Hewson

Narrated by: Christopher Kay

Length: 17 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

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 Venice, Daniel Forster is seduced by the city's mystery. An earnest young academic, Daniel has come for a summer job cataloguing a private collector's library.

But when Daniel's employer sends him to buy a stolen violin from a petty thief, a chain reaction of violence and deception ignites. Suddenly Daniel is drawn into a police investigation - and a tempest swirling around a beautiful woman, a mysterious palazzo, and a lost musical masterpiece dating back centuries.

With each step he takes, Daniel unwittingly retraces a journey that began in 1733, when another young man came to Venice. And when, in this realm of intrigue and beauty, two lovers came face-to-face with a killer: and a mystery was born.

©2001 David Hewson (P)2001 W F Howes Ltd

You will enjoy this book

A very good read though parts of the story line seem unbelievable . The plot moves along and I did not find the flipping of the time sequences at all difficult
Have fun with this book especially if you love historical fiction.

Hewson at his best

I am a great fan of David Hewson's writing who for me epitomizes the the best if the modern mystery writer.
The clever mix of modern and historical story and the subtle interweaving of the two tales is masterful. There are also the usual unsuspected twists, right through to the final words.
The reader brings out all the subtle nuances and does the work justice.
A must for all fans of the genre.

Spellbinding story

This is a wonderful, complex, literate thriller that interweaves two stories, one set in the present and one set in the 18th century. The characters are a unique and interesting cast. The plot moves briskly, with unpredictable twists and turns. The Venetian setting will appeal to anyone who has visited the city. The narrator is very good, changing voices quite deftly for so many characters. His Italian and American accents are not the best, but do not detract from one's enjoyment of the plot.

Keep Listening!!!!

Wonderful story - one of Hewson's best after you get through the first two hours. I listened to it twice before I "got" that the narrator was conveying verbally what would have been immediately obvious if I had been reading. Once I understood the structure the story unfolded as wheels within wheels. Very satisfying, intricate, stimulating, kept me glued to my iPod. Do read this book!

A Waste of a Credit

The hoaky Italian accents coupled with an awful plot is a recipe for a reader wandering how it got 4 stars

Not well suited to audio format

What disappointed you about Lucifer's Shadow?

I found the story very hard to follow since it moves from past to present and back. The characters were not well developed and I could not follow who was who in the plot. I gave up and didn't finish the book....life is too short to listen to bad books.

Would you ever listen to anything by David Hewson again?

I would not search him out, but I wouldn't NOT listen to a book because he was the reader.

How could the performance have been better?

He needs to give more variation to his character voices to help the listner keep the separate.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Lucifer's Shadow?

Most of them!

Any additional comments?

I just did not like this book!