By Gaslight

A Novel

By: Steven Price

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 23 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

A literary tour de force of a detective's ceaseless hunt for an elusive criminal.

By Gaslight is a deeply atmospheric, haunting audiobook about the unending quest that has shaped a man's life.

William Pinkerton is already famous, the son of the most notorious detective of all time, when he descends into the underworld of Victorian London in pursuit of a new lead on the fabled con Edward Shade. William's father died without ever finding Shade, but William is determined to drag the thief out of the shadows.

Adam Foole is a gentleman without a past, haunted by a love affair 10 years gone. When he receives a letter from his lost beloved, he returns to London to find her. What he learns of her fate - and its connection to the man known as Shade - will force him to confront a grief he thought long buried.

A fog-enshrouded hunt through sewers, opium dens, drawing rooms, and séance halls ensues, creating the most unlikely of bonds: between Pinkerton, the great detective; and Foole, the one man who may hold the key to finding Edward Shade.

Steven Price's dazzling, riveting By Gaslight moves from the diamond mines of South Africa to the battlefields of the Civil War on a journey into a cityscape of grief, trust, and its breaking, where what we share can bind us even against our darker selves.

©2016 Steven Price (P)2016 Macmillan Audio

Historical and faithfully accurate

It takes a little bit to get going but after establishing backgrounds, settle in for a pretty good ride.

Never again....Mr. Lee

What did you like about this audiobook?

I found the Narrarator so horrible that I could not finich the book. The Story may be good , but I almost fell asleep with this reader... Very diserpointing!!

This Performance was amazing

I found the back and forth of the story a little confusing at times. Unusual story line. The performance was amazing. The different voices used heloed me feel more as if i were watching a mivie than reading a book! I may have to listen again just to hear them.

doesn't get interesting until around ch 16-20

overall not bad, but a lot of purple prose and takes forever to get to the point. feels like the author did a lot of research and put all of it in the story. read for a book club, probably won't recommend

a worthwhile listen

the narrator did a highly entertaining job of encompassing each characters character. the story itself was fabulous. I will listen to this again and again! it was so fun to immerse myself in Victorian London with a shot of post-civil War America.

Narrator Is THE BEST

look no further! A good story taken to the next level by narration alone. This guy can READ! I went on 5 mile runs listening to this book on my ear buds and wanting to keep running because this narrator put me in the zone. Great book, great narration, money extremely well spent.

The Best Book I've Come Across in Years

I really love this book. Everything about it --the plot, the characters, the prose--is excellent. And the reader is superb. Aside from his intense and compelling narration, his rendering of every character--male and female, young and old--is utterly believable; moreover, he switches accents and dialects--including Australian, Cockney, and various British and American--with ease. I am so impressed with this writer too; he transports us into the world inhabited by his characters with ease, and takes his readers/listeners effortlessly from one continent to another. The story is set primarily in the 19th century, in many places with which I'm familiar (I was born and grew up in London, and have lived in Port Elizabeth, and the American West, for instance). It's interesting to imagine what those places that I know so well were like in the past. Since I'm a retired university professor, who taught Humanities, including history and literature, it's been delightful to discover this literary treasure.

Marvelous escape

This was a wonderful escape from coronavirus! Wonderful plot and beautifully written. The narrator did a marvelous job in re-creating a sense of gloom, mystery, and suspense in Victorian England

one of the best and most intriguing stories

I have heard in a long time! Highly recommend it to anyone liking mystery stories.

Ending

Good story and the reader was excellent, the ending was disappointing. Could have been much better, even to the very end it could have turned into a good ending.