Product Description

This dark and exciting historical thriller, set in nineteenth-century Chicago, marks the collaborative debut of two remarkable and well established British talents, the novelist William Horwood and the historian Helen Rappaport. When young, inexperienced but very ambitious female reporter, Emily Strauss, blags her way into newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer's office, she comes away with a treacherous assignment: to discover what happened to Anna Zemeckis, one of many women who have disappeared during the 1893 World's Fair. With the support of a young man who is just venturing into the burgeoning trade of news photography, Emily soon finds herself in a race against time to save Anna's life and to bring her story back to New York before Pulitzer's tough deadline expires. Chicago is a place of dangerous contrasts. Among all the glitz and razzmatazz of the Fair itself and the spectacular wealth and influence of a new middle class elite, Emily comes face to face with rival ethnic groups, the sinister underworld of pornography and prostitution, as well as the ruthless meatpacking giants of the Union Stock Yard, who control the lives and destinies of so many of Chicago's immigrant poor.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #275809 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Daily Telegraph
Short chapters and tight plot invoke a cold dreak in the reader from the very beginning.

From the Publisher
A dark and exciting historical novel that is both an adventure story and a powerful rendering of 1890s Chicago

From the Inside Flap
This dark and exciting historical thriller, set in nineteenth-century Chicago, marks the collaborative debut of two remarkable and well established British talents, the novelist William Horwood and the historian Helen Rappaport.

When young, inexperienced but very ambitious female reporter, Emily Strauss, blags her way into newspaper magnate Joseph Pulitzer’s office, she comes away with a treacherous assignment: to discover what happened to Anna Zemeckis, one of many women who have disappeared during the 1893 World’s Fair. With the support of a young man who is just venturing into the burgeoning trade of news photography, Emily soon finds herself in a race against time to save Anna’s life and to bring her story back to New York before Pulitzer’s tough deadline expires.

Chicago is a place of dangerous contrasts. Among all the glitz and razzmatazz of the Fair itself and the spectacular wealth and influence of a new middle class elite, Emily comes face to face with rival ethnic groups, the sinister underworld of pornography and prostitution, as well as the ruthless meatpacking giants of the Union Stock Yard, who control the lives and destinies of so many of Chicago’s immigrant poor.

Customer Reviews

Compelling page turner!
Dark Hearts of Chicago
A fascinating look at the seamier side of life in Chicago in the late 1800s. How does Anna, a sheltered young woman from a good family, become a victim? Can Emily, would-be reporter, find out what happened to her? The twists and turns along the way as these questions get answered keep the pace moving steadily, and kept me turning pages instead of sleeping. Highly recommended

Same book as "City of Dark Hearts"
It is not really stated on the Amazon website but this is the same book as "City Of Dark Hearts" by James Conan. The difference being (apart from hardback/softback covers) is the fact that (if I understood the interviews in the back of the book) the authors re-wrote the last 10 chapters because they were unhappy with the originals. I have read "City of Dark Hearts" (excellent) but cannot remember the heroine, Emily Strauss, learning a martial art (as mentioned by another reviewer).
I wrote this review to highlight the fact that you only need to buy one or the other. I suppose the newer book is like a DVD with an "alternative ending"
You pay your money and make your choice !

excellent value
The book arrived as scheduled and was exactly as described I would us this seller again