First Newspaper Review Of Nightfall

The first newspaper review of Nightfall is out - in The Lancashire Evening Post. It's by Pam Norfolk, and she liked it! Whew!! I was interviewed for a job on the Lancashire Evening Post more than thirty years ago - it's a great local paper and it would have been fun working for them, but I ended up going on the Mirror Group Training Scheme instead...

Anyway, here's the review -

By Pam Norfolk

Taut, tense, teasing ... and terrific!

The first book of Stephen Leather's brilliant new thriller series is so dark that you won't want to put out the light...

The secret of Nightfall's success lies in its psychology ... who can you trust in the murky world of private eye Jack Nightingale?

Because in the twilight zone there are good people, bad people and some who might just be downright evil.

Jack was a highly respected negotiator with the Met's armed response unit and his speciality was persuading people not to commit suicide.

But when he was called to the 13th floor of a luxury tower block, he discovered a nine-year-old girl, with tell-tale bruises, on the verge of jumping from her parents' balcony.

Jack failed to talk her down and to his horror, Sophie Underwood deliberately slipped off the wall and plunged to her death still clutching her doll.

And when he confronted her father at his high-rise office shortly afterwards, Simon Underwood also fell from the window to his death ... did he jump or was he pushed?

Only Jack knows what happened and he still won't speak of it ... but it cost him his job.

Two years later Jack is haunted by a dream in which Underwood tells him: 'You're going to hell Jack Nightingale.'

And even more alarming for Jack is that the most unexpected people are telling him the same thing, including a man who has recently died and reveals in his will that Jack is his biological son and the sole heir to a substantial mansion house in Surrey.

Ainsley Gosling was a man steeped in Satanism and black magic, and a DVD found in his house claims Jack's soul was sold years ago and that on his 33rd birthday a demon from hell will claim it.

A strict non-believer in either heaven or hell, straight-talking Jack is convinced this is all an elaborate hoax but when people close to him start to die and the truth about his father's dealings is uncovered, it seems the prophecy could be more than just a sick joke.

And as Jack's birthday is only three weeks away, discovering the truth will be a race against time...

Nightfall is a wonderfully atmospheric tale of suspense and intrigue infused with edgy humour and a slow-moving but perfectly paced sense of menace.

Devilishly good...

(Hodder & Stoughton, hardback, £19.99)