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by Tony Kuehn

FBI. CIA. LSD. JFK. USSR. If an acronym associated with the 1960s comes to mind, it’s likely to make an appearance in Shift. From acid-induced mind control to covert operations in Cuba, from a missing nuclear weapon to mass hallucinations, Shift runs a gamut that your inner conspiracy theorist will find delightful and provocative. Ever wonder if Timothy Leary was more than just a drug-addled ’60s cliché? Want to know who supplied JFK with his acid? All these, and many more, questions are considered with a wry aplomb that will keep skeptics on their toes and give the “what if” crowd enough ammunition for years to come.

Melchior, one of three “wise men” recruited by a CIA operative known as The Wiz, claws his way out of a newly sanctioned 1963 Cuba and back to his “Company” progenitors, only to find that he has been quietly swept under the rug and forgotten. Meanwhile, a Persian prostitute blackmailed by a CIA operative into giving various government targets covert doses of LSD finds that her latest mark—a career student with family ties in high places—holds the key to vast mental powers unlocked by the mind-altering properties of LSD. Add to this a freshly minted—and recently disenfranchised—FBI agent blindly seeking an answer to a question he doesn’t understand and you have the recipe for a massive, out-of-control conspiracy so unreal it almost sounds credible.

With its disparate but always converging narratives, reading Shift is like fighting a featherweight boxer. Always moving, constantly on its toes, it peppers you with small punches until, eventually, you succumb and it delivers the knockout. But oh, what a fight, and certainly one that is enjoyable and frenetic from start to finish. Written in deceptively simple language, luscious descriptions of everything from hallucinations to childhood memories to the fit of a dress on the Persian temptress spring from the page in a way that is evocative of the ’60s while also managing to stay out of the way of the sheer mania contained within the pages. For an engaging romp through the ’60s that never were, look no further than Shift.

Mystery & Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Suspense

A checkered past won’t stop this father

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

Conway Sax is not, in general, the kind of guy you cozy up to. He has close ties with girlfriend Charlene and her kids, but commitment often eludes him. He’s done time and has a hair-trigger temper that he euphemistically calls a “red mist.” A recovering alcoholic, he’s wildly loyal to his AA band of brothers, the Barnburners, but he’s always getting into catastrophic scrapes and making the same mistakes time and again.

So why is this character so hard to dismiss? Shotgun Lullaby, author Steve Ulfelder's third book in the Conway Sax series, may be your best clue. It’s Ulfelder’s best, most tightly written story so far, following on the successful heels of his first two books, Purgatory Chasm and The Whole Lie.

Conway Sax is a mess—but readers will love him anyway.

Shotgun Lullaby presents readers with a snappy, memorable cast of characters, including a young recovering alcoholic, Gus, who kicks off the train of mayhem by unknowingly reminding Sax of his estranged son. Right off the bat, it’s clear that Sax will throw caution to the wind and make every effort to protect the young man. A murder at Gus’ halfway house sends Sax onto a trail that gets more devious and littered with bodies as the pages turn, involving Gus’ wealthy father, his sexy second wife and Gus’ stoner friend Brad, as well as mobsters, con men and a savvy state-cop-slash-ally.

The book is riveting because Ulfelder knows how to write: His prose is uncluttered, the dialog matches real-life talk and the humor is actually funny, with a welcome absence of wisecracks.

Sax is riveting because he’s struggling, and we can recognize some of his failings as ours. He suffers from a form of “act now, plan later” adrenaline in his efforts to set things right, and he’s sometimes unwilling to think through the consequences of his actions. His closest supporters, including Charlene, her teenage kids and his best buddy Randall, understand all this about him, but he often ignores their wisest advice—and sometimes places them in jeopardy. In Lullaby, a final harrowing scene brings all of Sax’s messy contradictions to bear in one breath-holding moment readers won’t soon forget. It’s a testament to the author’s skill that we keep hoping Sax will pull things together. We want him to slow down and breathe deeply, and we’re still on his side.

Shotgun Lullaby will make an indelible impression on all readers up for a great ride.

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

Death of the rich and famous

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

First-time author Robert Galbraith has added a singular new voice to the genre of crime fiction with his engaging debut novel, The Cuckoo’s Calling, which keeps the form of a classic mystery while introducing Detective Cormoran B. Strike, a private investigator straight out of today with a personality as offbeat as his name.

The story gains its considerable traction through two developing characters: the enthusiastic and curious Robin, a just-engaged young lady who signs on as a temp for Strike and begins to show her investigatory mettle; and Strike himself, whose rather frayed and shambling exterior hides a steady, methodical temperament and an “incurable habit of thoroughness.” He’s got a talent for remarking the details that others have passed over.

Not too far in the past, Strike was a special investigator with the military police in Afghanistan, where he lost part of a leg to a land mine. He was also engaged to a rich, beautiful and volatile woman, but the relationship ended in a hail of temper and thrown objects. Now, Strike sleeps on a cot in his office with his prosthetic leg, a stack of unpaid bills and one remaining client.

Strike receives a burst of luck when he unexpectedly gains a new case: John Bristow, a well-to-do lawyer who can pay in advance (critical for Strike), wants proof that his sister Lula, a high-living and famous model, did not jump to her death but was pushed off the third-floor balcony of her penthouse apartment. The case was closed three months earlier and her death ruled a suicide, but Bristow’s convinced that the police have failed to follow up on all the leads, and he wants Strike to find the person responsible for Lula’s death.

This engrossing story boasts a fascinating cast of fast-track suspects both repellent and attractive. Most are Lula’s compatriots, full-of-themselves celebs and hangers-on with a knack for drugs, disaster and evasion. Front and center are Somé, Lula’s exclusive designer; Evan, a temperamental boyfriend fond of wearing a wolf mask; and Deeby Macc, a streetwise rapper with chutzpah. Then there’s the couple on the second floor of Lula’s exclusive building, one of whom claims Lula was not alone just prior to her fatal plunge. Add to this list the elusive Rochelle, a homeless woman with a connection to Lula, and the result is a page-turner featuring an uncommon hero with faces both contemporary and retro.

Editor's Note: Months after this review was assigned and published, it was revealed that "Robert Galbraith" is a pseudonym for best-selling author J.K. Rowling. More details here.

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

Slow revelations make for a compelling debut mystery

Review by Sheila M. Trask

by Sheila M. Trask

Elanor Dymott’s debut novel skillfully combines the visceral thrill of a murder mystery with the psychological portrait of a grieving man. In Every Contact Leaves a Trace, Dymott sets young English lawyer Alex Petersen on a quest to solve the brutal murder of his wife Rachel, who was struck down on Midsummer Night at their alma mater, Worcester College, Oxford. To track down Rachel’s killer, Alex must face his own sorrow, and also some unsettling revelations about the wife he thought he knew so well.

Dymott plays a measured game of hide-and-seek with the facts of the case, doling them out at a stately pace that matches the tradition-steeped setting. Disclosures from Rachel’s reticent English Literature tutor, Harry Gardner, tantalize and torture an increasingly perplexed and anxious Alex. Did his beloved wife really have a secret past, or is Harry keeping some secrets of his own? Dymott repeatedly brings Alex—and the reader—right up to the edge of an answer, before turning back in time and considering other perspectives. This sense of the ground moving beneath your feet mirrors Alex’s internal confusion as he tries to understand the enigma that was Rachel Cardanine.

Comparisons to Donna Tartt’s The Secret History seem inevitable, as Dymott similarly reveals the debauchery that can exist behind even the most revered collegiate traditions. Fireside tutorials, afternoon teas and costumed balls create a falsely comforting front for what’s really going on behind the rose garden walls: experimentation with sensual pleasure and pain that blurs the boundaries between good and evil. Rachel and her confederates are impressive poetry scholars in their tutor’s presence, but seem not to be above blackmail—or worse—when his back is turned.

How exactly did Rachel reconcile those boundaries? Is her murder simply proof to the contrary? As Alex gradually fills in the missing pieces of the puzzle, readers come to see this mysterious young woman’s life, and death, in a surprising new light.

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

An ugly truth kept quiet by Victorian women

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

Anne Perry’s fine new book, Midnight at Marble Arch, features her well-known series duo Charlotte and Thomas Pitt in their familiar setting of Victorian England.

Readers of Perry’s engrossing novels know to expect the highest quality in both story and characterization, plus a continuation of the familiar and finely drawn characters from previous books in the series. But in this story, the unexpected and in-depth treatment of the subject of rape gives the book a timely, almost modern feel. The descriptions and language may be straight out of 1896, but the attitudes and arguments are still relevant today.

The dark debates in Anne Perry's newest Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery ring true even today.

Thomas Pitt, now head of Britain’s Special Branch, joins forces with Victor Narraway, his friend and the agency’s former head, to investigate several violent attacks on women. Narraway responds to the scene of a violent rape and the subsequent death of Catherine Quixwood, wife of a successful merchant banker. Likewise, Pitt and his wife are present at a society function when the daughter of the Portuguese ambassador apparently commits suicide, leaping through a window to her death. Charlotte, however, fears she was frightened into an accidental plunge after coming face-to-face with a young man who had previously raped her. Charlotte’s suspicions are strengthened after another woman privately names the same man as her rapist. The suspect is the scion of another prominent banking family of considerable means, to whom many are financially indebted. No one dares point a finger without an airtight case, and the frightened families aren’t talking.

Perry is adept at tempting us with the impossible—and perhaps inevitable—solution, as well as making us watch what we think are surefire clues go up in smoke. A discussion of attitudes toward the crime of rape is woven into the fabric of the plot, and we come to realize we’ve heard many of the same thoughts expressed in our own time. The author seamlessly connects the separate storylines and reveals multiple sides of various suspects, making us wary of convicting the most obvious.

Perry’s fans will also have the pleasure of witnessing a developing relationship between likeable series characters Narraway and Charlotte’s great-aunt Vespasia, as their growing bond, slight at first, becomes a crucial part of the story.

Although the author’s intricate prose gets a little repetitive and overwrought at times, we’re hooked on this provoking and tightly woven book to the very last page.

Anne Perry’s fine new book, Midnight at Marble Arch, features her well-known series duo Charlotte and Thomas Pitt in their familiar setting of Victorian England.

Readers of Perry’s engrossing novels know to expect the highest quality in both story and characterization, plus a continuation of the…

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

Hollywood and crime

Review by Bruce Tierney

by Bruce Tierney

Screenwriter and reluctant sleuth Billy Winnetka returns for an encore performance in Robert Weibezahl’s latest “Hollywood and Crime” mystery, The Dead Don’t Forget. Billy spins the tale in the first person, with an amused world-weariness born and nurtured in the movie industry.

Summoned to the stately Hancock Park home of faded film star Gwendolyn Barlow, Billy allows himself to be coaxed into a couple of things he typically tries to avoid: a bit of detective work (in this case, looking into the threatening phone calls Barlow claims to have received over the past several months); and reading someone else’s movie script (in this case, Barlow’s original piece, A Ladder to Paradise, penned some 50 years before).“Just what Hollywood needed. A World War II romance written during World War II. Picture trying to pitch that to a young studio executive who probably didn’t even know they made movies before Star Wars.” The script turns out not to be where Gwendolyn left it, however; in its place, in the original faded manila envelope, is a red-stained paper, on which is scrawled “Hurry Up and Die . . .”

Is this on the level, or simply the melodramatic antics of a one-time star too long out of the spotlight? Billy Winnetka will find out soon enough, but not soon enough to prevent a murder. The Dead Don’t Forget is one of those rare second books of a series that outshines its predecessor; looking forward to installment number three!

Note: As faithful BookPage readers might have recognized, Robert Weibezahl is a fellow BookPage columnist; that said, if I hadn’t thoroughly enjoyed The Dead Don’t Forget, I would have politely declined the opportunity to review it!

Summoned to the stately…

Mystery & Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Suspense

Thrilling conclusion to a landmark trilogy

Review by bookpagedev

by Bruce Tierney

The final volume of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, finds neo-punk and genius hacker Lisbeth Salander recuperating from a bullet to the brain. She’s in no hurry to get better: A multiple-murder trial awaits her recovery. She has wreaked vengeance on her tormentors, who conspired to imprison her for most of her teen years. A few are dead, and the rest are scurrying to cover their tracks and somehow neutralize her before she can incriminate them. So was it murder, or self-defense? Or is there just the slightest possibility that Salander is, if not entirely innocent, at least not guilty in the eyes of the law?

Helping Salander from outside is renegade journalist Mikael Blomkvist, at times the focus of Salander’s affections, and more recently the object of her unbridled loathing. Blomkvist isn’t exactly sure how he fell from her graces, and she has not been forthcoming with the answer; indeed, she rebuffs his every advance. And so this uneasy pair labors, sometimes at odds, sometimes in parallel, in pursuit of Salander’s freedom.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest neatly ties together all the loose ends from the previous two cliffhangers, yet it still leaves the reader yearning for more. At the time of his death, Larsson left behind an unfinished manuscript of what would have been the fourth book in the series, and synopses of the fifth and sixth. Sadly, we will probably never see them, at least not as the author intended.

Mystery & Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Suspense

The deception next door

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

Author Hallie Ephron’s third novel of suspense, There Was an Old Woman, hits all the right notes. As a respected mystery book reviewer for the Boston Globe and one of a talented literary foursome with sisters Amy, Delia and the late Nora Ephron, Hallie Ephron knows just how to tingle the spine or raise the hair on the back of your neck.

After Evie Ferrante’s alcoholic mother is hospitalized after yet another fall, Evie reluctantly travels from Manhattan to clean up her mother’s cottage at Higgs Point, where Evie and her sister grew up. It’s a spit of land at the southern tip of the Bronx between the East River and Long Island Sound, and Ephron atmospherically describes the marshy, semi-wild area in a gripping tale that skillfully connects past and present events.

Hallie Ephron knows just how to tingle the spine or raise the hair on the back of your neck.

Even as Evie notes the impoverished atmosphere and derelict condition of the house, she knows that something else is amiss. She finds an envelope with nearly $2,000 stashed among her mother’s possessions, and what’s with the case of expensive liquor—not the cheap kind her mother always buys? Looking beyond the front yard, she sees a growing number of empty lots where homes used to stand, and learns that some of the owners, though elderly, appear to have met a somewhat unexpected and premature death.

As Evie gets reacquainted with her mother’s elderly neighbor, Mina, the two form an unspoken alliance that will eventually uncover the lies and deception that have held the neighborhood hostage and led to its neglect. The beautifully drawn character of Mina portrays both the vulnerability and wisdom that comes with age, with many memorable portions written from her point of view. Mina’s long-held secrets provide a key to understanding the puzzle at Higgs Point, and she forges an important link with Evie’s life in the present.

Evie runs into Finn, an old childhood flame, and the attraction is rekindled. He adds another twist to the plot, as he is the leader of the Soundview Watershed Preservation neighborhood group that’s working to save the marsh and retain the area’s rural character. An aura of menace pervades, throwing into high relief the ongoing battle between the forces of preservation and those of unfettered development. There Was an Old Woman combines a unique storyline with characters that will stay in your mind long after you’ve put the book down.

Fiction, Mystery

Fiction Mystery

The end of childhood comes with a bang

Review by Stephenie Harrison

by Stephenie Harrison

There comes a time in every life when childhood is placed firmly in the past and the future must be faced with the burgeoning wisdom of adulthood. But as Frank Drum learns in William Kent Krueger’s latest novel, Ordinary Grace, the price one often pays for this kind of wisdom is the loss of something infinitely more precious.

For Frank and his brother Jake, sons of the local minister, the death of a schoolmate named Bobby during the early days of the summer of 1961 heralds the crashing end to their idyllic boyhood in small-town Minnesota. The loss of a child sets tongues wagging and imaginations racing, but no one realizes that the aftermath of this death is the calm before the storm. By the summer’s end, others will join Bobby’s ranks, leaving the survivors to attempt to make sense of all that has been taken from them. When the Drum family is thrust into the center of the drama, Frank and Jake struggle to understand life through the lens of death and wrestle with the wisdom they have been granted through the awful grace of God.

Author of the successful Cork O’Connor detective series, Minnesota writer Krueger has no shortage of fans, but with Ordinary Grace he is poised to increase his following. Though this is a stand-alone novel, Krueger stays true to his roots, producing a thoughtful literary mystery that is wholly compelling and will appeal to fans of Dennis Lehane and Tom Franklin. Writing with aching clarity, Krueger deftly shows that even in life’s moments of unimaginable sadness there is beauty to be found. Don’t take the title too literally, for Krueger has produced something that is anything but ordinary.

Cozy Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Cozy Mystery

Adventures of a Scottish philosopher

Review by bookpagedev

by Joanne Collings

I’ve been told all my life that I think too much, so I was delighted to make the acquaintance of Isabel Dalhousie, a 40-ish spinster, Edinburgh resident, editor of Review of Applied Ethics and the heroine of Alexander McCall Smith’s Sunday Philosophy Club series of novels. Isabel is, by profession and by personal inclination, a thinker. She thinks about everything, from the moral difficulties caused by chocolate, to economics, to age differences (the old have been young, but the young have not been old, so “[i]t was a bit like discussing a foreign country with somebody who has never been there”).

Isabel is easily drawn into others’ lives, including those of strangers. When she meets a recent heart transplant patient who tells her about the strange, life-threatening visions he’s been having, Isabel becomes involved, researching the theory of cellular memory and investigating the lives of those who might have been her new friend’s donor. Ever self-aware, Isabel recognizes that her motives are open to interpretation, acknowledging that “some would call it indecent curiosity. Even nosiness.” Isabel is appealing because she’s so human. She’s in love with Jamie, a musician younger than she who is still in love with Isabel’s niece Cat, who is no longer in love with him. Isabel’s only romance ended badly and she worries that “men don’t like women who think too much.” She’s well-off, but lonely, reflecting as she makes her way home from a concert that “nothing awaited her at home but the solace of the familiar.” McCall Smith is a lovely writer (the dead are described as being “like a cloud of love, against which weather we conduct our lives”) and, although his books are often called mysteries, readers not interested in that genre should still enjoy this novel. It’s a wonderful addition to the fall reading season.

I've been told all my life that I think too much, so I was delighted to make the acquaintance of Isabel Dalhousie, a 40-ish spinster, Edinburgh resident, editor of Review of Applied Ethics and the heroine of Alexander McCall Smith's Sunday Philosophy Club series of…

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

An ancient book of life and death

Review by Leslie Budewitz

by Leslie Budewitz

Erin Hart’s fourth novel in her acclaimed Nora Gavin series blends Irish legend and archaeology with present-day murder in a sad tale tinged with sweetness. In The Book of Killowen, American pathologist Nora and Irish archaeologist Cormac Maguire are building a quiet life together in Ireland, healing Nora’s wounds and caring for Cormac’s elderly father, Joseph. Absent for much of his son’s childhood, Joseph is now suffering from a stroke, his ability to speak frustratingly garbled. When a bog body is found in Tipperary, near Killowen Bog, the trio and Joseph’s new caregiver move to Killowen Farm, a nearly idyllic retreat center and artist’s colony, to take over the excavation.

But the bog body has a modern companion—a murder victim. Detective Stella Cusack is eager to solve the crime, and the string of incidents that follow it, before losing the case to higher ups. Fortunately, her assistant has the experience with antiquities that she lacks. The murdered man’s identity is quickly discovered, and suspicions center on his estranged wife and her companion, frequent guests at Killowen Farm. But despite his brilliance, he had no shortage of faults—or enemies.

While Cusack untangles the secrets of the residents and neighbors, and their ties to the victim, Nora and Cormac study the treasures found with Bog Man for clues to his identity and his relationship to an ancient scriptorium once located nearby. Could he be the mysterious 9th-century philosopher and author of the controversial Book of Killowen? And where is the book? New secrets touch on the old, leading to blackmail and fiery danger.

The first book in the Nora Gavin series, Haunted Ground (2003), was nominated for Agatha and Anthony Awards for Best First Novel. In The Book of Killowen—Killowen means “Church of Owen”—Hart explores not only the mysteries of the Irish bogs, but also the ancient and modern mysteries of language and the power of secrets. Hart’s own language sings with sharp and powerful observations, of what she calls “characters in the great book of human events.” Pour yourself a Guinness, or brew a pot of tea, and dig in.

Leslie Budewitz’s debut mystery, Death al Dente, first in The Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, will be published by Berkley Prime Crime in August 2013.

Mystery, Mystery & Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Mystery

A neighborhood shattered by betrayals of the past

Review by Barbara Clark

by Barbara Clark

The Sound of Broken Glass, the 15th entry in Deborah Crombie’s popular series featuring Det. Inspector James and Det. Superintendent Kincaid, often flashes back to the seedy Crystal Palace neighborhood in southeast London. The area once boasted the famous Crystal Palace building, a huge glass exhibition hall reconstructed from its famous Hyde Park original in 1854, but then burned to the ground in a spectacular fire in 1936. The novel builds its core from the memories of those who once inhabited the neighborhood and had heard of the spectacular building, and the recurring theme of lives as fragile as glass weaves its way throughout Crombie’s new Gemma James/Duncan Kincaid mystery novel.

Broken Glass picks up the pieces of several interlocking stories from the past, all of which seem to have their genesis in the Crystal Palace neighborhood. Years earlier, Andy, a lonely but musically talented adolescent boy who’s often beset by older neighborhood bullies, befriends Nadine, a young widow. Tragedy and a mysterious betrayal appear to cause an end to the friendship, and Nadine disappears from the neighborhood.

In the present day, Andy, now beginning to make a name for himself as a rock guitarist, seems to be connected to the grisly death of a barrister. The victim confronted Andy during a performance just prior to the murder, which took place a bit later in a derelict hotel. When a second, similar murder of a barrister occurs, Scotland Yard takes up the trail in earnest.

Gemma and Duncan, now married, alternate childcare responsibilities, with Gemma currently at Scotland Yard while Duncan stays home on childcare leave. Gemma and her young assistant, Det. Sergeant Melody Talbot, seek to determine the tragic circumstances that bind Andy’s past and present in bonds that seem unbreakable. Duncan joins the sleuthing when he realizes that the young guitarist figured into a former case.

Those familiar with Crombie’s earlier novels will be pleased that this entry matches her previous books in suspense and writing prowess. Newcomers to the series will find a welcome backlog of previous James/Kincaid novels to whet their appetite after discovering this fine novel.

Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, Suspense

Mystery & Suspense Fiction Suspense

The raising of Pandemonium

Review by Matthew Jackson

by Matthew Jackson

Looking at the premise of Andrew Pyper’s sixth novel, The Demonologist, you could be forgiven for thinking you’re about to crack open another Da Vinci Code imitator, a sensationalistic voyage of carefully placed clues, perfectly timed cliffhangers and impossible revelations. Don’t fall for it. In these pages, Pyper has done something more. Though it’s certainly a solid thriller with plenty of page-turning power, The Demonologist is at its heart a painfully human drama about loss, redemption and belief.

A gripping human drama with the pacing of a thriller, Andrew Pyper’s latest novel is a surprisingly weighty page-turner.

David Ullman is a prestigious professor specializing in biblical literature and tales of demons, and one of the world’s foremost experts on John Milton’s epic poem of heaven and hell, Paradise Lost. Though religious literature is his specialty, David doesn’t believe a word of it. His interest is unshakably academic, until a woman visits his office with a strange proposition. Just days later, tragedy strikes, and David finds himself battling dark forces and a ticking clock in a desperate effort to get his daughter Tess back. Along the way everything he thinks he knows about demons will be challenged, and everything he’s sure of in the world will be tested.

With its dark mysteries and race against time, The Demonologist has all the trappings of a supernatural thriller, and has already been optioned for film. The “man forced to save his daughter” plot is nothing new, nor is the “skeptic encounters shattering revelations” plot, but in combining them Pyper finds something special. Though he never loses the taut quality of his tale, he allows his characters to take center stage, giving the book a remarkably intimate feeling that many other thrillers of its kind lack.

Readers of hardcore thrillers with supernatural overtones will find there’s a lot of fun to be had between the covers of The Demonologist, but those in the mood for something a little meatier will be satisfied as well. This is a surprisingly weighty page-turner.