"Boston, 1865. A series of murders, all of them inspired by scenes in Dante’s Inferno. Only an elite group of America’s first Dante scholars—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Oliver Wendell Holmes, James Russell Lowell, and J. T. Fields—can solve the mystery. With the police baffled, more lives endangered, and Dante’s literary future at stake, the Dante Club must shed its sheltered literary existence and find the killer."

I've been wanting to read this for quite a while. I was really excited when I saw a copy at the library book sale, so I grabbed it up!

(Note: Small chunk of cover has been torn away on the back, near the top.)

8/12/09 -- Seems like I've been wanting to read this one for a LONG time & was finally able to get to it on audio. I'd heard so many raves about it, but I felt let down. I thought it was just "okay". As sick as it sounds, I really liked the descriptions of the murders the most & almost wished there were more of them in the story due to the uniqueness of each one. But ultimately, I found the story too drawn out and for some reason had a lot of trouble keeping the characters straight, despite the fact that they were almost all well-know writers, poets, publishers, etc. That may have been due in part because of the audio format, but perhaps also due to my ignorance in previous knowledge of these characters. Maybe...or maybe not. This is one instance where I think I may have gotten more out of an abridged edition, as I thought this story just dragged on a little too long.

I got a 2nd copy of this one for myself, so going to start a bookray with this one!

I don't have any "rules" exactly, but I would appreciate it if all participants would journal when they receive the book, and again when sending it on to the next person (along with your review, of course!). It would be nice if you could read it & get it moving again within a month or so, but I understand that things happen and it's not always possible. Please send me an update via PM, if that's the case. Enjoy the book! :')

List of participants:

Doceo33 (Arizona, USA)
kiyoitsukikage (Poland)
kizmiaz (Portugal)
conto (Portugal)
PinkManager (Greece) (asked to be skipped)

Beginning its journey to Doceo33 today!

The book just arrived in the mail.

Excellent book, though a bit slow in the beginning.

I just mailed the book off to kiyoitsukikage in Poland. Happy reading!

OK the book arrived on the 19th or 20th but I forgot to journal it.. *shame* and now I just finished it!!! ;)
I really liked the book, the action develops very slowly at first and I was already growing a bit tired with it but then it gets better ;) in the end I just couldnt put it down until I finished! Really exciting! :)
Thanks for sharing!

RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sorry but I totally forgot to make release notes earlier and I cant recall when I sent out the book excatly, I'm only guessing --- there were some PM problems so it took awhile until I got the address and sent it.. hope it arrives safely soon!!

Just got it, will get to it as soon as I can.

This is quite a good book, although it starts very slowly and kind of drags itself through the first 80 pages, a bit like a steam engine, but when the wheels start spinning what a ride it is.
An amazingly crafted plot with some of the most important Bostonian authors ever.
The author’s knowledge of Dante’s most famous work is quite obvious, and the way he brings it down to the level of the common reader is just brilliant.
I enjoyed very much the way the author deals with the aftermath of the civil war and its effect on the soldiers, bringing up what’s now called war stress, something that maims as bad as a bullet but still goes for the most part ignored by the leaders of the so called “Free World”.
This is one great page turner and by the middle of the book I was really hooked on it.
Guess I’ll have to re-read Dante’s Divine Comedy now.
Will be mailing it when I get an address.

Only this weekend could Kizmiaz and me meet for this book to exchange hands (sorry for that), but I started it already and hope to soon be through with it and able to pass it along!
Thank you so much indygo88 for this!

A truly great book!
The first pages aren't all that grabbing, in fact, but I didn't find them at all boring and they turn out to be of big importance to the understanding of the whole. After that, and when the action speeds up it does get difficult to put the book down.
It's interesting, motivating, very well researched and with lots of details on the ways of living in those days in Boston, without getting over descriptive and a truly appealing aproach to Dante's work (which I 've never read).
It definitly is the kind of book I like!

Thanks a lot, indygo88 for the opportunity to read it and Kizmiaz for stimulating me to read it.

Once PinkManager asked to be skipped, and with indygo88's permission, I'll start a Bookring within Portugal with this book.

(The pick is Bosch's vision on Dante's Inferno)

So, this one's going to become a BookRing for the next months.

Please remember to journal the book when you receive it, after you've finished it, and once you've shipped it on to the next person. Also please try not to keep the book any longer than one month. Keep it moving and ENJOY.

Who's in:
- Moimeme
- kittycatss
- Pequete
- lisatam
- Quiron
- darjeeling <--- It's here!
- ...

Arrived last friday, just when I was finishing the book I was reading! I'll try to read it quickly!

Excellent book. It's all been said, the slow beginning, the good story, the fact that it grabs you till the end. There are no loose ends and it all makes sense. I'll send it to kittycatss as soon as I have her address.

Sent yesterday, 27th November

I'll pass on to Pequete this book. I haven't read it because I have a mountain of books TBR!! But thanks anyway to indygo88 for borrowing your book, and thank you Moimeme for sending it to me!!

Just arrived, thanks, Kittycatss! To be read asap!

Finished last night. I started very slow (too many characters and similar names - I kept mixing up Lowell with Longfellow... - a not too easy English, etc.) I was almost giving up, when I decided to take a peek at the previous JEs and I'm glad I did, for many of them also spoke about the slow beginning, but a very gripping story afterwards. Which was exactly what happened, and I ended up enjoying the book a lot. Thank you indygo88 and conto! I'm now waiting for lisatam's address to send the book travelling again.

The book is finally on its way to lisatam, who sent me her address very promptly. I took too long to mail it, because I've been ill and unable to leave home for several days in a row - sorry for the delay, everyone!

Acabei de receber. Vou tentar ser breve! Obrigada pela partilha.
Just received it. I will try not to take long. Thanks for sharing!
20.02.2007 - Loved the book! Excellent story, very absorbing. It is on its way to Quiron. Thanks again Conto and Pequete for sharing.

Just arrived! :-D
It's next in line to be read.
Thanks :-)

Finished it last week. Sorry for the late JE.

Like almost everybody that read this book, I thought that the first 100 pages were dull and slow paced.
But although it gets much more "alive" after that, this first part bugged me for the rest of the book. I think I didn't enjoyed it as much as I could because of that. I also had big expectations for this book. :-P
But I have to say that I was fascinated by the gruesome details of the murders (be very afraid of me! Muahaha! lol :-P ).

The book will be on it's way to darjeeling, the next time I go to the post office.
Thank you lisatam for sending the book to me. And thank you conto for sharing it with us. ;-)

Sent to darjeeling. Sorry for the delay.

With me now... thanks!

Bom, depois de inúmeras PMs trocadas e passados já tantos anos sem livro e sem notícias, parece que não vale a pena ter mais ilusões... este é mais um para a Ilha dos Perdidos!

:´(