Penny Dreadful

Someone has written "Dark Poetry." This could not be more accurate. PENNY DREADFUL is one of the most starkly beautiful books ever to come out. That said, I have to admit that I haven't yet read "Kiss Me, Judas," but plan to get it sometime this week. Back to PD: Surreal and fresh, this book nevertheless disturbs on so many levels---any good book will. But what makes it truly unique is the way the author's mind works-you can literally see the wheels turning; not in a bad way; and it's not at all predictable. If you want a touch-feely "feel-good" book, this is not it. But it is great fiction by a very talented writer who I hope we see more of. If you enjoy the works of Chuck Palahinuk, Jackson McCrae, Bret Easton Ellis, and other "new age" writers, then this is the book for you.

Enigmatic and sublime. This stark noirish nightmare is as good as they get. Baer makes what almost could be called a surrealist hardboiled novel. Without lossing control of the narrative, Baer does a superb job crossing the border between naturalist crime writing and heady phantasmagoria. Phineas Poe is one of the most interesting, beguiling anti-heros within the noir genre, a tight lipped drugged out sam spade caught up in a underground world of would be vampires.

In Penny Dreadful, Mr. Baer switches from smartly noir to sweetly nasty as we continue to follow along in the dreamsteps of the excellent Phineas Poe. This work ups the complexity quotient on Kiss Me, Judas, sending, as it does, the readers' minds spinning off into a glittering p.o.v. mosaic that tips it hat to the signal work of a certain J. Joyce. One can only hope that the third installment of the remarkable Poe Trilogy will not be too long in coming.

Just finished Penny Dreadful. Awesome! There were some parts that I questioned and I won't discuss them b/c I don't want to give anything away. I love the way Baer writes Poe. If you liked, Kiss Me, Judas...you'll love Penny. Can't wait for the next book and hoping it won't be the last!

I have just recently finished reading the second in Baer's "Poe" trilogy, "Penny Dreadful" --- sequel to the amazingly prolific, "Kiss Me Judas". This novel however creates a world all its own. Baer is certainly a great talent, and his second novel's detail and plot are superb. One can picture the dark, gritty nights in Denver when Phineas Poe, (our anithero,) returns to find himself losing his identity -- or what has become of his identity -- more and more each day. He becomes lost in a "Game of Tongues"...which ceases to blow my mind when I remember how rich in noir detail the "horrific" game was described. (I won't give anything away, especially of the game's nature, I despise reviewers who do this.)All in all, Baer has great insight when it comes to the mundane, unoriginal surroundings we find ourselves in everyday. Whether it be his describing a homeless man on the street corner, with his nose bloodied, his fingernails bitten to the ends or his describing the dark, dank Denver alleys, he does it well. This novel is filled with everything a reader can long for. Baer pulls off noir with his own sense of style, and he does it with passion. Writing at its best.