Red Stag: A Novel - Hardcover

De LA Valdene, Guy

4.21

29 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1592281346 ISBN 13: 9781592281343

Publisher: Lyons Pr, 2003

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Set in Normandy, France, in the 1960s, RED STAG is a lush, rich novel. Nineteen-year-old bastard Vincent has just returned from boarding school to work on the Count's estate, where his uncle is gamekeeper, where Vincent himself was raised, where his mother, until her early death, was the Countess's maid. Shortly after his return, his uncle is viciously murdered. Vincent vows revenge.

It is also deer hunting season, and the village is wild with anticipation about this year's ritualized Royal Hunt for the giant red stag. This red stag defies all hunters, outsmarting them, and then outrunning their horses and hounds.

The Count's daughter, Nicole, returns to the estate as well. She, too, is nineteen These childhood friends haven't seen each other in years. As the search for the murderer's identity intensifies, and the Royal Hunt approaches, Nicole and Vincent find themselves inexorably drawn to each other. The three-pronged plot gains momentum, reaching a thrilling, violent, graphic conclusion, which reveals startling truths about Vincent's patronage and the potential for both extreme cruelty and friendship within the human heart.

RED STAG is wonderfully atmospheric and exotic, full of rich descriptions of wildlife and the rivers and woods of Normandy. It is beautifully written, near cinematic in its clarity, highly suspenseful, and utterly unforgettable.

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From the Back Cover:

Red Stag is a tantalizing love story and a coming of age novel set against the backdrop of a lush estate in Normandy, France, in the 1960s. It is a novel of desire, of murder, and of chilling revenge.
Vincent, a boy who has grown up in the shadow of a Count's estate, has just turned nineteen. As the son of the Countess's maid, his childhood was one of ambiguous privilege. But his father's identity remains a mystery, and the villagers shun and fear him for his questionable heritage. As the novel opens, Vincent has just returned from his last year of boarding school for the summer, when his uncle, the estate's gamekeeper, is brutally murdered. Vincent vows revenge, and along with his best friend sets out to find the murderers. Meanwhile, the village is in a state of agitation, anticipating the opening day of the ritualized stag hunt, with hounds and horses, for the royal red stag. In the midst of it all, Nicole, the count's daughter, returns to the estate from America.
As the search for the murderer's identity intensifies and the stag hunt approaches, Nicole and Vincent find themselves inexorably drawn together. The secrets revealed leave no one innocent, exposing the potential of extremes--from devout loyalty to bitter cruelty--within the human heart.
Atmospheric and exotic, Red Stag is textured by the wildlife and the rivers and woods of Normandy. It is beautifully written, near-cinematic in its clarity, suspenseful, and utterly unforgettable.

From the Inside Flap:

Red Stag is a tantalizing coming of age love story set against the backdrop of a lush estate in Normandy, France. Nineteen-year-old Vincent, the son of the Countess’s maid (and whose childhood was one of ambiguous privilege) has just returned from his last year at boarding school to spend the summer on the Count's estate, where his uncle is gamekeeper and where Vincent himself was raised. Shortly after his return, his uncle is discovered brutally murdered and Vincent vows revenge. Meanwhile, the village is in a state of agitation, anticipating the opening day of the ritualized hunt, with hounds and horses, for the royal red stag. In the midst of it all, Nicole, the count’s daughter, returns to the estate from America.
As the search for the murderer’s identity intensifies and the stag hunt approaches, Nicole and Vincent find themselves inexorably drawn together. The secrets revealed leave no one innocent, exposing the potential of extremes—from devout loyalty to bitter cruelty—within the human heart.
Atmospheric and exotic, Red Stag is textured by the wildlife and the rivers and woods of Normandy. It is beautifully written, near-cinematic in its clarity, suspenseful, and utterly unforgettable.

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