Medusa's Web - by Tim Powers (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From the award-winning author of Hide Me Among the Graves, Last Call, Declare, and Three Days to Never, a phantasmagoric, thrilling, mind-bending tale of speculative fiction in which one man must uncover occult secrets of 1920s Hollywood to save his family.

In the wake of their Aunt Amity's suicide, Scott and Madeline Madden are summoned to Caveat, the eerie, decaying mansion in the Hollywood hills in which they were raised. But their decadent and reclusive cousins, the malicious wheelchair-bound Claimayne and his sister, Ariel, do not welcome Scott and Madeline's return to the childhood home they once shared. While Scott desperately wants to go back to their shabby South-of-Sunset lives, he cannot pry his sister away from this haunted "House of Usher in the Hollywood Hills" that is a conduit for the supernatural.

Decorated by bits salvaged from old hotels and movie sets, Caveat hides a dark family secret that stretches back to the golden days of Rudolph Valentino and the silent film stars. A collection of hypnotic eight-limbed abstract images inked on paper allows the Maddens to briefly fragment and flatten time--to transport themselves into the past and future in visions that are both puzzling and terrifying. Though their cousins know little about these ancient "spiders" which provoke unpredictable temporal dislocations, Ariel and Claimayne have been using for years--an addiction that has brought Claimayne to the brink of selfish destruction.

As Madeline falls more completely under Caveat's spell, Scott discovers that to protect her, he must use the perilous spiders himself. But will he unravel the mystery of the Madden family's past and finally free them. . . or be pulled deeper into their deadly web?

From the Back Cover

In the wake of their Aunt Amity's suicide, Scott and Madeline Madden are summoned to Caveat, the eerie, decaying mansion in the Hollywood hills in which they were raised. But their decadent and reclusive cousins do not welcome Scott and Madeline's return. While Scott desperately wants to go back to their south-of-Sunset lives, he cannot pry his sister away from this haunted "House of Usher in the Hollywood Hills" that is a conduit for the supernatural.

Caveat hides a dark family secret that stretches back to the golden days of Rudolph Valentino and the silent film era. A collection of hypnotic eight-limbed abstract images inked on paper allows the Maddens to briefly fragment and flatten time--to transport themselves into the past and future in visions that are puzzling, terrifying, and mesmerizing. Though Scott and Madeline know little about these ancient "spiders" that provoke unpredictable temporal dislocations, their cousins have been using them for years.

As Madeline falls more completely under Caveat's spell, Scott discovers that to protect her, he must use the dangerous spiders himself. But will he unravel the mystery of the Madden family's history and finally free them from the past . . . or be pulled deeper, perhaps permanently, into the deadly web?

Review Quotes

Praise for Hide Me Among the Graves: "[A]n intriguing story. . . . I like it for the quality of phrasing, the engaging characters and the strange, almost silly complications that arise from the ancillary characters' concerns. . . . [Powers] can fashion a political/religious/historical conspiracy out of string, lint and crumpled paper and polish it till it shines like a Cartier bauble." - San Diego Union-Tribune

"[A] fine example of the work of a much-beloved author, and a spooky ride through Victorian London to boot....Powers's work engages with something prerational that is buried deep, deep in our brains, and that won't be bullied into submission by mere reason. " - boingboing.com on HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES

"A new Tim Powers novel is always cause for excitement. His latest is a twisted journey through time travel, possession, old Hollywood, addition, and familial violence." - Publishers Weekly

"This novel is as weird as anything Powers has written, but he maintains his usual skillful way of making even the most surreal twists compulsively readable. The vestiges of Old Hollywood have their hooks deep in the story, which moves back and forth in time through the visions of the spider users." - Library Journal

"This novel is as weird as anything Powers has written, but he maintains his usual skillful way of making even the most surreal twists compulsively readable." - Library Journal

"[A]n atmospheric and complex supernatural thriller, with an old-time Hollywood frame, and it steadily builds to a frenetic climax." - Booklist