Matthew Pearl, author of The Dante Club, The Poe Shadow and The Last Dickens, has a new historical fiction novel coming to bookstores in February 2012.
Pearl’s newest book, The Technologists, transports readers to the front lines of an unorthodox war in 19th-century Boston. Pearl is famous for deftly stringing true historical incidents into his mysteries.
Random House gives a preview of the historical thriller:
In Boston Harbor, a fiery cataclysm throws commerce into chaos, as ships’ instruments spin inexplicably out of control. Soon after, another mysterious catastrophe devastates the heart of the city. . . . The shocking disasters cast a pall over M.I.T. and provoke assaults from all sides—rival Harvard, labor unions, and a sensationalistic press. With their first graduation and the very survival of their groundbreaking college now in doubt, a band of the Institute’s best and brightest students . . . secretly come together to save innocent lives and track down the truth, armed with ingenuity and their unique scientific training. Working against their small secret society, from within and without, are the arrayed forces of a stratified culture determined to resist change at all costs and a dark mastermind bent on the utter destruction of the city.
Are you looking forward to Pearl’s depiction of the battle between tradition and technology in The Technologists?
There are so many good books coming out. I can’t keep track but I added this one to my virtual TBR list as soon as I heard about it. It looks soooo good.