The Master of Seacliff

by Max Pierce

Book Overview

Same design on cover as paperback.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: 0739480456
• ISBN13: 9780739480458
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Southern Tier Editions, Harrington Park Press
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

thoroughly enjoyable

I finished this book in two afternoons and just loved it! The novel could be classified as a gay gothic romance/mystery. It is well written and yet easy to read. Definately one of my absolute favorites in the gay historical fiction department. A couple of reviewers didn't like this book and I can't figure out why except to think that they don't like this KIND of book - the setting or the story. So below are a few of my favorites. If you liked any of them, you'll probably enjoy "The Master of Seacliff." Again, I definately recommend it and can't wait until Max Pierce writes another one! Other favorites:" Gaywick" (forget the cheesy title and cover art work - it's wonderful)by Vincent Virga " The God in Flight" (also excellent) by Laura Argiri " Earthly Joys" by Philippa Gregory "Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade" (and the two other Lord John books) by Diana Gabaldon " the Price of Temptation" (not great literature, but a fun read) by M.J. Pearson "The God of Mirrors" (novel about Oscar Wilde - excellent) by Robert Reilly and in the fantasy department "Mordred, Bastard Son" by Douglas Clegg

Gothic and Gay...Perfect Together !!

What a totally cool book !! The plot setting is perfect, the characters are well drawn, animated, and clearly differentiated. The plot will capture you as a reader instantly, because it is so refreshing an approach to storytelling. This book has all of the intrigue, suspense, mystery, simmering passion and eroticism that anyone could demand of a book from this genre. I unhesitatingly recommend it. The perfect reading scenario...? A stormy night with lots of lightening, a cracking fireplace,(or some semblance of same), a glass of Merlot, and finally a grandfather clock ticking in the background...If you can create this situation for yourself before you begin the book, you will enjoy even more. Happy Reading!!

A Rare and Entertaining Gay Gothic

Gothic mysteries have been around for years, but gay gothic mysteries are a rare breed. In the pantheon of queer literature these novels are few and far between. In fact, off the top of my head, I can think of only one other I've read, Vincent Virga's spellbinding GAYWYCK, originally published in 1980. In THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF, Max Pierce delivers a classic piece of gothic fiction. All the prerequisites are in place. The large foreboding mansion overlooking the sea, the brooding darkly handsome lord of the manor who may or may not be a murderer, the newly hired fresh faced innocent, and the sinister servant determined to drive the newcomer from the premises. The year is 1899 and twenty year old Andrew Wyndham travels 200 miles up the Atlantic coast, from his Manhattan home, to take up residence at Seacliff, the large estate of Duncan Stewart. Andrew has agreed to a position as tutor to Duncan's eight year old son, Tim, for the summer. The money he earns will be used to finance his dream of going to Paris to study art. Duncan Stewart is a wealthy and powerful businessman with an infamous reputation. His father, Gordon, and his father's friend, Albert, were found shot to death at Seacliff eight years prior and prevailing gossip holds Duncan responsible. It's said that Duncan wanted control of the family business and murdered to have it. Officially the deaths are considered a murder-suicide between the two men, but most don't believe it. This, however, is not the only mystery clouding the situation. Duncan's protégé and secret lover, pianist Steven Charles, disappeared a year before Andrew's arrival and his absence has, once again, brought suspicion upon Duncan. As Andrew learns more of the rumors about Duncan, he is both fascinated and frightened. Duncan is a man who can be both charming and obnoxiously brash. Will the obvious attraction between the two men blossom into love, or will the mysteries surrounding Duncan doom their relationship to failure? THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF is both a beautifully constructed mystery and a well told tale of forbidden love at the turn of the last century. The pace builds nicely and the conclusions are not easily guessed. This novel is gothic storytelling at its finest, and I highly recommend it.

A Male Gothic Novel

Pierce, Max, "The Master of Seacliff". Harrington Park Press, 2007. A Male Gothic Novel Amos Lassen and Literary Pride Who could ask for more in a book than passion, suspense, murder and suspicion? All of these are in Max Pierce's "The Master of Seacliff", a new release from Harrington Park Press. Here is a passionate murder mystery that will keep you reading until the last page and then hating that you finished the book. It is 1899 and Andrew Wyndham is no longer a kid--he is now 20 years old. However, he is till not quite a man--especially not the one he wants to be. He has always dreamed of being an artist but his cheap relatives that raised him never allowed him to follow his dream even though he has talent. A friend of his arranges for him to become a tutor to the son of a rich patron of the arts who lives on an estate known as Seacliff. It is here that Andrew finally envisions a way for his dream to come into fruition. Little does he knows that there is danger on the horizon and what seems to be is not that at all--especially the master of the house, the mysterious and handsome, Duncan Stewart. What we have is a gay gothic novel--a thriller which is contemporary and romantic at the same time--a great satire which is original and a pleasure to read. It is one of those rare books that allow you to escape into it. As he pays homage to the 19th century novel, he also manages to give it a modern touch as he infuses modern sexuality into the plot. Gothic novels were not geared to men but "The Master of Seacliff" is all man. Reading about Seacliff, I was reminded of the first time I read Daphne DuMaurier's great novel "Rebecca". One will undoubtedly make comparisons between the estate and Manderlay. Both mansions are dark and brooding, cliff-tops and surrounded with an aura of mystery. The mater of Seacliff, Duncan, is fearful and admirable at the same time. His home is filled with secrets, the kind with the power to destroy and Andrew walks into this situation with no advance warning. The details in the novel are absolutely amazing and as the novel progresses we learn of murders and suicides, gay trysts, and the place of the servants in the overall scheme of things. The beautiful language and characterization keep all the sensuousness of the novel alive and cause everything to fall into place. The "forbidden" love that takes place behind the walls of Seacliff will not soon be forgotten and, like me, you will be waiting for Pierce's next gothic novel.

A Finely Wrought Gothic Thriller with a Contemporary Twist

Max Pierce seems to be a writer to watch. He understands the fine art of mystery storytelling, finding that magic of the past great writers who doted on dark old mansions that held their secrets of murder and mayhem much like an old spinster creaking in her attic rocking chair. But Pierce introduces a taboo subject of the time in which he sets this intriguing tale (1899 in America) and in doing so refreshes his story for a new audience of Romance aficionados. He populates his engrossing yarn with handsome men (yes, and women) most of whom appear connected by their closeted sexuality! Seacliff, the name of the elegant but darkly invested mansion somewhere along the coast above New York City, hides secrets of two significant murders that happened some eight years before the story begins. The narrator is a young artist Andrew who timidly accepts the role as tutor for the son of the wealthy Duncan Stewart, the virile and powerful scion of the estate whose wife has died without an heir for Duncan (a situation remedied by a quick trip to a gypsy in Paris), replacing a young pianist who left the estate under mysterious circumstances. Gossip and secrets suggest that the murders of Duncan's father and one Albert may have been at the hand of Duncan himself, but other mysteries cloud the mansion: the daughter of the housekeepers apparently committed suicide in a leap off the cliffs when she learned of her beloved's suspicious death; her mute son remains in the household tied to cemetery visits; the butler is inordinately dour and suspicious; the neighboring estate is owned by a brother and sister - the brother being gay and the sister a bit too compassionate. Pierce slowly unveils the fact that gay relationships existed between the murdered men, the neighbor and the pianist with Duncan, and that similar forces are at work to bring the new tutor Andrew into the murky trysts. And simultaneously the true stories of the many deaths that hang in the past gradually are uncovered. It is a lot of story to condense but Pierce writes with such uncanny attention to detail and to keeping the language and atmosphere of 1899 in place that he creates a page-turning thriller that keeps the reader guessing up to the final page. Gothic horror, interrelated murders and suicides, past and present gay relationships, and exploration of a time when a staff of servants underlined the intrigue of the old mansions all make THE MASTER OF SEACLIFF and absorbing new novel. Pierce's elegant prose puts it all into perspective, keeping the sensual aspects alive but related in the tenor of the times. By the end of the novel, closing the covers, the reader satisfyingly reflects on the forbidden love affairs the walls of Seacliff had seen and how those gay trysts opened such strange events that made the discoveries of perpetrators so fascinating. Grady Harp, December 06