The Poe Consequence

This is the first novel by Keith Steinbaum, a supernatural thriller. He has written The Poe Consequence and if you’re a fan of the supernatural (and I am not), or if you’re willing to suspend judgment for the length of this book about what is real and what is not (which I am), then you’re in for a good ride. The book makes frequent references to the works of Edgar Allen Poe, and the subtitle of the novel is “Beware the heart as cold as ice.” You might get to know more about Poe’s stories than you knew before.

This story is about twin brothers, Kevin and Warren Palmer. Warren was waiting to hear about his application for a literature teaching job at USC in Los Angeles, a job he desperately wanted. Unlike his twin, Warren was also interested in the occult, and while visiting New Orleans, sought out a psychic, a Tarot reader, and he was hoping for reassurance about his job application. But he got something far different. Madame Sibilia obviously was able to perceive information in unconventional ways. She knew the name of his brother, as well as the names of his in-laws. Warren had already married a wonderful woman, had a child with her, and then a year before the trip to New Orleans, she had died from cancer. Rather than telling Warren about only the good things that she foresaw, Madame Sibilia unloaded information about Warren’s impending death. He was so offended by the progressive reading of his Tarot that he got up and left before the last card was revealed. Meanwhile, Kevin Palmer was a writer for the L.A. Times, and he was working on a story about the exploding gang war in L.A.

Back in L.A., Warren was killed by an errant shot in an unexpected gun battle between rival gangs. Thus, Warren’s 14-year-old son, Seth, was left to be raised by his Uncle Kevin, who just happened to be a raging alcoholic. With his last breath, Warren commented that he had promised his wife that he would always look out for Seth, and now he was committed to continue that promise from the afterlife. Seth had a huge adjustment to make, and he found himself uncomfortable with and angry at all Hispanic people. His school work fell apart. He was depressed and did not care about anything. He was also disgusted with his uncle’s drinking.

Meanwhile, the gang wars continued to rage, but after Warren’s death, there was a mystery regarding the way they were dying. For every murder by the Lobos and Diablos, the murderer died the following day at 4:00 a.m., but not of gunshot wounds. Rather, they were dying of a heart attack and it was determined at autopsy that their hearts were actually frozen inside their bodies. Meanwhile, Kevin found a tutor for Seth, but she is a Mexican-American woman and is stunningly beautiful and Kevin fell in lust for her. Seth agreed to work with her, not knowing that the tutor’s brother had been involved in the death of his father.

There were interactions with the police force, and Steinbaum created some wonderful characters. The interplay between the two enemy gangs was entirely believable. So, despite this being outside of my usual genre, I thoroughly enjoyed the story and am willing to give this a very solid recommendation.