“You are going to hell, Jack Nightingale”
These are the words that continue to haunt the character Jack Nightingale in this latest thriller from Stephen Leather.
After just plowing through Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina and struggling through the seemingly endless speculations of the state of Russian agricultural practice and the nature of the serfs, I wanted something as different as possible. This book definitely supplied it.
Jack Nightingale’s world falls apart when he is contacted by a lawyer about an unexpected inheritance. It turns out he was adopted. Unfortunately his natural father was a practitioner of black magic, who sold Jack’s soul to the devil in return for power and riches. Sadly for Jack the riches are gone. All that remains is a video detailing his father’s suicide and a warning that he has just three weeks before the devil is due to claim his soul.
At first he reacts as any normal person would, with scepticism. But then the people around him begin to die in horrible ways and it is a race against time to find a way of breaking the contract.
This is a suspenseful, fast paced and surprisingly credible read. And no mention of agriculture.
- Kaye
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