The Raven's Seal
That New Zealander Baltakmens is a Dickensian scholar will come as no surprise to readers who choose his second novel: his writing style perfectly reflects the Victorian master, right down to the sly humor in characters’ names, like the housekeeper Mrs. Scourish, the journalist William Quillby, and Swinge, the bribe-taking jailer. Falling into the moody twilight of Bellstrom Gaol, “crouched . . . like a black spider on a heap of spoils” above the fictional English city of Airenchester, readers experience the dank despair of the debtors imprisoned within. After a dissatisfying duel with his rival, Massingham, the wounded Grainger is later shocked to find his enemy murdered and himself the chief suspect. Quickly convicted and sentenced to life in prison, Grainger tries, with the help of two loyal friends, to clear his name, following faint clues leading from dead man to loan shark to procuress to the jail’s oldest resident. Not an easy read but well worth the effort, this atmospheric, character-driven, and plot-twisty bildungsroman is a worthy paean to Oliver Twist and Great Expectations. --Jen Baker