Drood    by Dan Simmons Order:  USA  Can Little, Brown & Co., 2009 (2009) Hardcover, CD, e-Book      Reviewed by Tim Davis Readers who pick up a copy of Drood will know within half a dozen sentences that they are reading the work of an absolutely masterful storyteller. Dan Simmons - an author of two dozen previous novels, including some of the best speculative fiction written in the last twenty years - offers up a brilliant creation in which Charles Dickens is on the trail of an enigmatic man known simply as Drood. This most highly recommended novel is narrated by Wilkie Collins (author of The Moonstone, The Woman in White, and dozens of other less known novels) who is occasionally cynical, frequently wry, sometimes scathing, and always imaginative in his fascinating narrative. Writing for an imagined as well as 'impossibly distant and posthumous future' because of legal considerations as well as for reasons of honor, Collins begins his thoroughly engrossing tale shortly after Charles Dickens' death by telling us about the dread-filled moment when the iconic author Dickens briefly encountered a singularly ominous, leprous-looking fellow at the scene of a deadly railway accident near Staplehurst, England. After having survived and recovered from the horrific railway accident, Dickens becomes obsessed with finding and learning more about Drood, a man - if that is the correct description of the disturbing apparition - who Dickens suspects of foul, unspeakable crimes. Dickens' five year journey - with the laudanum addicted Collins almost constantly at his side - will take him into the most unspeakable horrors and terrors of the darkest netherworld of London's worst neighborhoods. And so begins a deadly game of cat-and-mouse in which outrageous lies, sublime madness, and bizarre incidents combine to make Drood a work of phenomenal artistry and imagination. Dan Simmons' novel is first-rate entertainment - engaging, provocative, intricate, and complex - and readers will not soon forget their spellbinding encounters with Collins, Dickens, and Drood. Don't miss this brilliant fictional speculation on the time and place where history and horror come face-to-face! Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews