Seven for a Secret, Lyndsay Faye
Seven for a Secret, Lyndsay Faye
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Seven for a Secret

Author: Lyndsay Faye

Narrator: Steven Boyer

Unabridged: 14 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 09/17/2013


Synopsis

From Edgar-nominated author Lyndsay Faye comes what Gillian Flynn calls “a brilliant new mystery.”

One of The Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Mysteries of the Year

Six months after the formation of the NYPD, its most reluctant and talented officer, Timothy Wilde, thinks himself well versed in his city’s dark practices—until he learns of the gruesome underworld of lies and corruption ruled by the “blackbirders,” who snatch free Northerners of color from their homes, masquerade them as slaves, and sell them south to toil as plantation property.

The abolitionist Timothy is horrified by these traders in human flesh. But in 1846, slave catching isn’t just legal—it’s law enforcement.

When the beautiful and terrified Lucy Adams staggers into Timothy’s office to report a robbery and is asked what was stolen, her reply is, “My family.” Their search for her mixed-race sister and son will plunge Timothy and his feral brother, Valentine, into a world where police are complicit and politics savage, and corpses appear in the most shocking of places. Timothy finds himself caught between power and principles, desperate to protect his only brother and to unravel the puzzle before all he cares for is lost.

About The Author

Lyndsay Faye is the author of a number of critically acclaimed books, including the Edgar Award–nominated novels Jane Steele and The Gods of Gotham. Faye, a true New Yorker in the sense that she was born elsewhere, lives in New York City with her husband, Gabriel.Steven Boyer is an American stage and television actor. He originated the role of Jason/Tyrone in Hand to God Off-Broadway and in the Broadway production. The role of Jason/Tyrone role earned him a Tony nomination for Best Leading Actor in a Play.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara on August 04, 2021

3.5 stars In this second book in the 'Timothy Wilde' series, Tim is one of New York City's first police officers - on the trail of corrupt slave catchers. The book can be read as a standalone. ***** In the mid-1800s, New York City had hundreds of thousands of residents living in rotting wooden tenemen......more

Goodreads review by Trudi on December 15, 2014

I gushed over Lyndsay Faye's The Gods of Gotham, her debut foray into the dark heart of New York City 1845 and the violent and inauspicious origins of its first police force -- the copper stars. In its pages Faye strikes a remarkable balance between the thrilling and cerebral aspects of a good myste......more

Goodreads review by Ioana on March 19, 2016

The second installment in Lyndsay Faye's excellently detailed, historically accurate series about the founding of the police force in antebellum NYC is a story about the illegal slave trade and systematic kidnapping of free blacks to be sold to the South for profit. Having just finished a history of......more

Goodreads review by Benjamin on June 30, 2013

Six months after the events of The Gods of Gotham, where-in we get to participate in the 1845 founding and very early days of the New York City Police Department (NYPD), we catch up with young Timothy Wilde, a "Copper Star" in the new police force. He's a proven asset now, an excellent solver of cri......more

Goodreads review by Wolf on August 06, 2013

'Seven For A Secret' is good enough to disappoint. It is clear that the author, Lyndsay Faye, has real talent. The writing is sometimes excellent. Too often, however, it veers into being irritating, overly worked or overly arch. The idea behind the novel, the way the law was used in the mid-nineteenth......more


Quotes

“This is a series for the ages, it’s so spectacular.”—Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Gone Girl

Praise for Seven for a Secret:

“New York must have been a helluva town in 1846...Timothy Wilde, who rescued child prostitutes in Lyndsay Faye’s rip-roaring novel The Gods of Gotham, returns.”—The New York Times Book Review

“Atmospheric and exciting.”—The Wall Street Journal“Memorable lead characters.”—The Oregonian

“This gripping, beautifully written, chilling, hearbreaking, and exciting novel by Lyndsay Faye is a completely immersive experience.....filled with vivid characterization, beautiful language, period slang (a glossary is provided), a gorgeous plot, and with incredibly evocative settings and heartbreaking twists of fate.  In short, this is an amazingly rich story, worthy of the word 'epic,'...This is definitely one of the finest crime novels of the year.”—Mystery Scene

“Faye once again skillfully evokes the early days of the NYPD in this gripping and moving sequel to 2012’s The Gods of Gotham, and Edgar finalist…Simple but effective prose, a brilliantly constructed plot, and three-dimensional characters add up to another winner for Faye.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“[Faye’s] second novel is doubly impressive. Readers of historical and genre fiction will appreciate the twist and turns of this original series.”—Library Journal (starred review)

“Captures the tumult of its time and place in an action-packed plot with elements of tragedy and hope, featuring a protagonist who fights for what is right in the face of corruption. Superlative historical mystery.”—Booklist

“As was the case in The Gods of Gotham, Faye folds a blistering indictment of prejudice and persecution of the defenseless within a satisfyingly complex mystery...Vividly atmospheric; the thieves’ slang all by itself evokes 19th-century New York with wonderful specificity. Let’s hope Faye finds more dirty work for her intriguingly conflicted hero.”—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for The Gods of Gotham:

“[A] excellent historical about NYC in the 1840s and the establishment of the NYPD.”—Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“There’s enough excitement here to cause anyone’s veins to quiver.”—The Washington Post Book World

“A wonderful book.”—Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times author of the Harry Bosch novels

“Riveting.”—The New York Times

“One of the worthiest successors yet [to The Alienist].”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air

“Lyndsay Faye is a superstar-caliber writer…The Gods of Gotham is a gift to the genre that readers will surely relish while we wait for Faye’s next one.” —Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of The Dante Club