Items related to The Gentle Axe: A Novel
Synopsis
In the aftermath of two grisly murders in St. Petersburg, investigator Porfiry Petrovich traces leads to a pornography ring and more genteel societal circles before encountering dangerous resistance from powerful high-ranking groups.
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About the Author
Born in Manchester in 1960, R. N. Morris now lives in north London with his wife and two young children. He sold his first short story to a teenage girls' magazine while still a student at Cambridge University, where he read classics. Making his living as a freelance copywriter, he has continued to write, and occasionally publish, fiction. One of his stories, "The Devil's Drum," was turned into a one-act opera, which was performed at the Purcell Room in London's South Bank. Another, "Revenants," was published as a comic book.
Reviews
British author Morris deserves credit for a clever premise—using the deceptively stolid Porfiry Petrovich, the detective in Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment (who helped inspire TV's Lieutenant Columbo), as the central focus of a period whodunit. A year and a half after the events of Crime and Punishment, two men turn up dead in St. Petersburg's Petrovsky Park. Petrovich, a senior member of the Department of the Investigation of Criminal Causes, quickly suspects that the official version of the tragedy—that one of the men killed the other and then took his own life—is mistaken. In the face of opposition from his superiors, the sleuth doggedly pursues clues that lead him to an underworld of brothels and pornographers. Unfortunately, this Petrovich doesn't have that distinctive a personality and the plot doesn't offer much complexity or psychological depth. Still, the author does a good job of depicting Russian society in the 1860s. (Mar.)
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It's December 1867, and winter has begun to ravage St. Petersburg when police investigator Porfiry Petrovich discerns that an apparent murder-suicide in Petrovsky Park may be more complicated than it seems. His insight is quickly rewarded. It's a murder-murder that leads Porfiry from the slums of the Haymarket District to Nevsky Prospect. He also discerns that his superiors are impeding his efforts to get to the bottom of the case. Author Morris has resurrected Porfiry from Crime and Punishment, and the brilliant and troubled Roskolnikov is still much on the investigator's mind. Morris' heavily atmospheric thriller treads much of the same literary ground Dostoevsky covered in his great novel. The wretched and squalid lives of the poor, the philosophy of Hegel, the growing rage of the lower classes, and the Russian national character--even the Russian soul--are all important elements of the world Morris re-creates. The Gentle Axe requires some concentration from the reader, but it will reward those who make the effort. Thomas Gaughan
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The Gentle Axe: A Novel
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The Gentle Axe: A Novel
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Penguin Press HC, The (edition ), 2007
ISBN 10: 1594201129
ISBN 13: 9781594201127
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The Gentle Axe
Published by
Penguin Publishing Group, 2007
ISBN 10: 1594201129
ISBN 13: 9781594201127
Used
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Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
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The Gentle Axe
Published by
Penguin Publishing Group, 2007
ISBN 10: 1594201129
ISBN 13: 9781594201127
Used
Hardcover
Seller: Better World Books, Mishawaka, IN, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Condition: Very Good. First American Edition. Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good. Seller Inventory # 6190788-6
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The Gentle Axe
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Hardback. Condition: Fair. Stumbling through Petrovsky Park one cold morning in search of firewood, an elderly woman makes a horrifying discovery. A burly peasant twirls in the wind, hanging from a bowed tree by a rope about his neck, a bloody axe tucked into his belt. Nearby, packed neatly into a suitcase, is the body of a dwarf, a deep axe wound splitting his skull in two. It does not take long for the noted police investigator Porfiry Petrovich, still drained from his work on the case involving the deranged student Raskolnikov, to suspect that the truth of the matter is more complex that the crime scene might suggest. Why do so many roads lead to the same house of prostitution and the same ring or pornographers? Why do so many powerful interests seem intent on blocking his efforts? His investigation leads him from the squalid tenements, brothels, and drinking dens of the city's Haymarket district to an altogether more genteel stratum of society. As he gets deeper and deeper in, and the connections between the two spheres begin to multiply, both his anger and his terror mount. Atmospheric and tense from its dramatic opening to its shocking climax, The Gentle Axe is a spellbinding historical crime novel, a book that explores the darkest places of the human heart with tremendous energy, empathy, and wit. As lucky as St. Petersburg residents are to have Porfiry Petrovich in public service, we are equally fortunate to have R.N. Morris on hand to chronicle his most challenging case to date. Seller Inventory # CIN1594201129A