The Damned
By Tarn Richardson
1914. The Outbreak of War.
In the French city of Arras, a Catholic priest is brutally murdered. The Catholic Inquisition - still powerful, but now working in the shadows - sends its most determined and unhinged of Inquisitors, Poldek Tacit, to investigate: his mission to protect the Church from those who would seek to undermine it, no matter what the cost.
Yet as Tacit arrives, armed forces led by Britain and Germany confront each other across No Man's Land. As the Inquisitor strives in vain to establish the truth behind the murder and to uncover the motives of other Vatican servants seeking to undermine him, a beautiful spirited woman, Sandrine, warns British soldier Henry Frost of a mutual foe even more terrible lurking beneath the killing fields that answers to no human force and wreaks their havoc by the light of the moon. Faced with impossible odds and his own demons, Tacit must battle the forces of evil, and a church determined at all costs to achieve its aims, to reach the heart of a dark conspiracy that seeks to engulf the world, plunging it ever deeper into the conflict.
Morally complex and fast paced, this is a gripping work of dark fiction set in an alternative twentieth century, where humanity's desire for love, compassion and peace face daunting challenges in a world overwhelmed by total war and mysterious dark forces.
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The historical elements are fascinating, as is the author's twist on the werewolf mythos, but the brooding, conflicted Tacit is the most compelling element. The conclusion will leave readers looking forward to the next installment Publishers Weekly
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Fantastic book - worth buying for the descriptions of the trenches alone, which are the best evocation of World War One I have yet read. You really can smell the cordite. Better than Bird Song. The author's prose is elegant and visceral Ed Davey, Author
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Richardson's debut has mash-up leanings ... It works surprisingly well The Daily Mail
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Werewolves meets WW1 history horror mash-up. Great brooding protagonist and razor-sharp historical detail Tom Bromley, Author