The Devil’s Architect
By Duncan Simpson
From the start, The Devil’s Architect continues the pace and thrills found in the first of the trilogy: The History of Things to Come.
Mr. Simpson continues to write in an eloquent style missing from most fiction these days. His combination of reality, history, and the cosmic is as smooth as that found in the Preston/Child Pendergast novels. Plan on staying awake few nights as you speed through this intense tale.
We pick up the story with DCI Lukas Milton and Vincent Blake investigating a gruesome crime. It happened at a church designed by architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Excerpts from his diary from the 1600s play a huge part in the story. These sections draw you deeply into the life of the unbalanced architect and his legacy.
Mary and her black dog return to play a solid role in the story, appearing at the perfect moments to add mystery and explanation to what’s taking place. Blake’s daughter also has an increased part in the action as she continues to recover from the accident that set off the story in the first book.
Having read about the Ratcliffe Highway murders as well as Jack the Ripper, this story gives the reader an interesting tie into both those events as well as additional history of the darker parts of London.
The culmination of the story is wrapped up in high-velocity action that both polishes off the novel and sets the stage for the third in the series. I, for one, can’t wait to read it.
The Devil’s Architect – Now available on Amazon!
Note: I received this book for free in order to write an honest review.
The History of Things to Come Review
**
Read: Book Reviews
And try another author I like, Erik Therme
I’ll need to check this out – I’ll go right now!
Let me know if you like it, GP.
It sounds like a great read! I haven’t read fiction in a long time.
These are page-turners, Danielle, so if you need a dose of fast fiction, here you are!
Oh my! I think I just found the books I need to take with me on my spring vacation. Thanks for introducing me to this series. I can’t wait to dive in.
Hope you enjoy them as much as I did, Jen.
Lovely review, Rosemary.
Seems like an interesting book will take time out for it!
Hope you enjoy it, Sushmita.
Anything that promises a deeper look at London’s dark history sounds like a good book to me 🙂
You might like the Campanion book that Duncan put together for this series, Jeri. It’s the factual behind the scenes of stuff he used to write his fiction. Really interesting stuff. Let me know if you read them!
Such a descriptive review Rose Mary but I would not expect any less from you!
To be honest, I do not watch or read horrors or anything of the supernatural. I am too sensitive to such things and they would play on my mind.
I totally understand that, Phoenicia. I don’t do horror things, but I do indulge in the supernatural–as long as it isn’t gory!
I wish I could review books for a living!
I haven’t read The History of Things to Come and the author is also new to me, but it sounds interesting and I trust your judgment so I’ll definitely take a closer look. Thanks!
Hope you enjoy a good page-flipper, Marquita!
Hey Rose, I trust your reviews. Have been following your blog since 3 years now.
Such clean and honest reviews are really the need of hour.
No other way to be, right, Tuhin? Same reason I enjoy your blogs–honesty.
I don’t know this author, but your enthusiastic review is prompting me to learn more about Duncan Simpson and possibly read the first book in the trilogy.
One of the things I like about Duncan is that he is truly interested in his beta readers’ input. No ego, just wants to be a good writer and I appreciate that. If you like thrillers that really aren’t gory (love Pendergast, but ew, sometimes…), then you should be good with both his books.