It’s 1830’s West Point. Cadet Leroy Fry is dead, found swinging from a branch. His heart raggedly cut from his body. The Academy’s Colonel Thayer calls upon the expertise of former New York constable Gus Lander to solve what is reportedly a suicide…and make sense of the subsequent heinous transgression on the victim’s body. From Lander’s perspective, the slim evidence points not to suicide, but murder…and possibly Satanism.

Delving into the case, Lander wonders if the murderer could be a member of West Point? Against his better judgment, Captain Hitchcock allows Lander to recruit Fourth Classman Edgar Allan Poe to clandestinely be his eyes and ears among Poe’s fellow cadets. (The author’s development of Poe as a significant character is a stroke of pure genius.) The partnership between the two transforms into a mutual lifeline. Yet through this bond, does Lander come to lose his perspective?

As a library employee I read a plethora of books, but find few that I love. The Pale Blue Eye represents that rare species marrying exquisite language with a "can’t put it down" plot. Bayard writes, "The clouds were frayed like collars, and the sun had laid down an aisle of glitter along the Hudson, and flaws of wind shuddered down from the gullies, stamping pinwheels on the water’s belly." Combine Bayard’s silver tongue with a pulsing story and a healthy dose of humor; throw in Baltimore’s sweetheart E. A. Poe — the result is a deeply textured, multi-dimensional novel.

Although you will wrestle with "who dun it," everything becomes crystal clear…by the last page. I promise.

Fritzi Newton – Miller Branch

Teens getting killed. They have been making movies with that very premise for over 30 years. A main character (a female, usually being played by that actress you kind of recognize) and her group of friends (a jock, a nerd, a cheerleader, etc.) are picked off one at a time by a killer in a costume or mask who will reveal his or her identity and motive during the last 20 minutes of the film.

In all honesty, Scream’s plot really isn’t much different than all slasher film plots. The heroine this time is the damaged Sidney Prescot, played by Neve Campbell, whose mother was murdered one year prior to when the movie begins. And while she and her friends fit the typical slasher film archetypes, there is one difference between them and virtually every other character who has ever been written into a horror movie: they have seen horror movies. They know the cliches; they know what not to do; they know the "rules one must abide by in order to successfully survive a scary movie." Screenwriter Kevin Williamson and director Wes Craven cram so much wit, humor, and blood into this simple story that you are guaranteed to have a blast.

Scream was one of the defining movies of the 90s. It was a phenomenon reinventing a genre that hadn’t been marketable since the mid-80s. It spawned two sequels and endless rip-offs. An intelligent spoof on horror movies that is still extremely scary, Scream is one of my all time favorites.

Mike Dwyre – East Columbia Branch

An American sex symbol is found floating in the Hudson River and the newspapers are reporting that it’s a murder. A famous author known for his detective series claims he will get to the bottom of the mystery. Is this another episode of Castle? No, it’s the true story of the murder of Mary Rogers, and Edgar Allan Poe’s attempt to solve the crime.

In The Beautiful Cigar Girl, Daniel Stashower captures New York’s political climate of 1841. "The beautiful cigar girl" is Mary Rogers, a sales clerk and local celebrity — many of New York’s famous men frequent the cigar store for a glimpse of her. Mary’s behavior made her a darling of the media and her death precipitated a call for reform. Also present is Edgar Allan Poe, a once famous writer for the literary magazines, now looking for his next story. Although considered brilliant, his brutally honest book reviews and erratic behavior have alienated him from society. 

I enjoyed The Beautiful Cigar Girl because of the mystery. Who did kill Mary Rogers? And why? In The Mystery of Marie Roget, Poe attempts to answer these questions through deductive reasoning. I equally enjoyed the story’s history, as well as the author’s inclusion of Poe’s biography. Stashower tells Poe’s story, from his turbulent childhood though his untimely death in Baltimore. The telling of Poe’s life is critical to both the mystery and the reason why he would care so much about writing Mary Roger’s story.  In some way, they are kindred spirits, each bent on the same destination.

Robert Bates – Glenwood Branch

Frank Peretti is known for his Christian-themed supernatural thrillers, and Ted Dekker, for his Christian suspense novels. In House, the two authors combine their talents to tell a gripping tale about a couple who spends the night in a haunted house. Another couple joins them, but the four are not alone. There is the weird family who resides in the dwelling and the serial killer on the outside trying to get in. Will they survive the night?

While House’s themes of hidden sin and redemption aren’t forced on the reader, one can certainly spot them. Peretti and Dekker wrap up their story with a moral and a surprise. If you enjoy reading Christian fiction and also appreciate an exciting page-turner, then check this one out.

Robert Bates – Glenwood Branch