A remarkable detective duo A demon who may or may not exist
It's 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported from the Dutch East Indies to Amsterdam, where he is facing trial and execution for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent, while also on board are Sara Wessel, a noble woman with a secret, and her husband, the governor general of Batavia.
But no sooner is their ship out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A strange symbol appears on the sail. A dead leper stalks the decks. Livestock are slaughtered in the night. And then the passengers hear a terrible voice whispering to them in the darkness, promising them three unholy miracles. First: an impossible pursuit. Second: an impossible theft. Third: an impossible murder. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?
With Pipps imprisoned, only Arent and Sara can solve a mystery that stretches back into their past and now threatens to sink the ship, killing everybody on board...
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Agent Hayes howled in pain as a rock slammed into his massive back. 1
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(@BloomsburyBooks, 1 October 2020, ebook, 570 pages, borrowed from @GlasgowLib via @OverDriveLibs)
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I've been looking forward to reading this book since it was featured on the show Between the Cover though it caught my eye before that. I really loved this book, a blend of history and horror and based on real events. It reminds me of The Terror by Dan Simmons which I had to DNF last month because I couldn't get into it and found it a bit of a slog. This is everything I hoped The Terror would be. I didn't find a single fault with this book. It's well written and the author seems to have done his research. It's a door-stopper of a book but I didn't get bogged down or become bored. I was completely caught up in the characters and events as they unfolded. This is a corker.
