The Pierced Heart

A Novel

Lynn Shepherd

Third time’s a charm?  After three books, I am beginning to have a feel for the author’s writing style.  I enjoyed this book most in the Charles Maddox series, so far.  Weaving a new tale using famous literary figures and novels adds interest, especially when Lynn Shepherd uses such iconic and well known stories.  I enjoy the re-branding and how she is able to weave her own mysteries into the mix. 

I had to come to terms with the fact that I will not “get” all the literary allusions she places in her books.  If I stopped reading to fact –check and search for the back story of every reference that went over my head, I would never have finished the book.  It didn’t make me enjoy the story any less, I’m just not sure I would have enjoyed it more had I understood all the references.

I recall reading Dracula in college, and how much moodier and darker the tale was than the watered down and cleaned up versions I had been exposed to in movies and television.  The feel of The Pierced Heart keeps the moody, dark roots and adds a scientific twist.  Blood letting and cupping was common practice and medical experiments were often gruesome and painful to those being experimented on in those days.  Tying the subjects together was clever.

The character development of Charles is continuing at a glacial pace.  I feel I know more about the secondary characters and their motivations than I do about the main character. 

Finally, the last chapter… without giving too much away, I found myself with these phrases running through my head:

It’s a small world!

Well, isn’t that convenient?

And others along those lines.  I understand that this is fiction, and the need to move the story to a satisfying conclusion is extremely tempting, but this may have gone just a little too far.   Would I recommend this book?  Yes.  Will I read the next book in the series?  Yes.  That is what counts in my… ahem… book.