"I take it she doesn't have a pointed hat and a broomstick?" - Jenny

Jack Nightingale is a former Police officer turned Private Detective who is torturing himself over the death of a young girl he failed to save. Seems Daddy dearest was a bit too loving and Nightingale may or may not have tossed him out his high rise office. Along with his assistant Jenny the former Copper is quite happily dealing with normal detective work till the young girl he failed to save starts to dial in from the beyond. Is she in trouble or are there darker forces at work trying to entice Nightingale to give up his soul?

On the road to possible redemption Nightingale is faced with the full force of the Police, the local Gangsters, and hell itself. His problems are only just beginning, the forces of hell are taking an interest, and the clock is ticking toward Nightingale's own personal Armageddon.

First up I haven't read any of the other books in the Jack Nightingale series so was coming into this great chunk of thriller cold cocked. On the bright side you really don't have to have read the other novels, though clearly you are playing catch up with some of the plot detours. Seems Nightingale was abandoned by his parents, his father was a Satanist, he has recently rescued his sister from an Asylum, and there's the small matter of the demonic Proserpine who wants her pound of flesh for answering some questions. Almost forgot, Lucifuge Rofocale, one of the fallen, want's Nightingale's soul to torment in hell. Okay now we're all up to date with the life and times of one Jack Nightingale, let's turn our attention to the book at hand.

Author Stephen Leather pulls a number of genre twists out of his bag and it's not all smoke and mirrors, Leather can write and inherently has a feel for pacing. Initially I thought we might be hitting a ghost story, the Author channels that very rich James Herbert like English style, you know, voices from the beyond, séances, bad dreams, the whole nine yards. I would have been quite happy with this, love a good ghost outing, but gradually other elements become more prominent as we advance through the pages. Nightingale, in an attempt to contact the young girl from the beyond Sophie, enlists the aid of various mediums of dubious abilities, a number of Satanists who conjure up more than they can cope with, and eventually tries his own hand at spell casting to almost disastrous consequences. The demonic has entered the fray and we are left wondering just who or what might be poising as Sophie in order to drag Nightingale into deals best left undone. I assume there's some background to this in the previous novels, and yes top of my priority list is sourcing said novels and dialling into the background story arcs. So we go from The Woman In Black to Paranormal Activity with Author Leather keeping the main twists in the plot tightly guarded, those closest to Nightingale may hold the key to his success or eventual failure. There's at least two turns of the screw coming at you that I didn't note lumbering over the horizon.

Leather pulls off the Stephen King technique of starting with the mundane, hitting the odd supernatural element once the Audience is locked in, before going full tilt with the demonic once we're caught up in the narrative. Don't worry we're not talking The Exorcist here, Leather is slightly more reserved in his prose and is hitting the thriller tarot card rather than going for an out and out horror novel.

While there's plenty to whet the appetite of ScaryMinds readers, Leather isn't finished with the Reader just yet. We get Nightingale having to solve a cold murder case, else facing the possibility of becoming a statistic due to a London gang who believe him responsible for the shooting of one of their Homies. And of course the ever present Superintendent Chalmers who seems to have a personal vendetta against the former Policeman. Once again the reason for this might be covered in a previous book in the series. So not only do you get the supernatural elements but you get a mystery to solve, and a Police drama. Talk about mixing your genres, Stephen Leather is behind the bar at the next ScaryMinds cocktail evening, the boy sure can deliver on the ingredients.

As mentioned above Leather has his pacing down right and doesn't let things drift at any stage through the novel. We start with a pretty kinetic Police raid, rocket through various scenes that advance the overall plot line, take a step into the surreal (slight drop off there), before quick shooting the final few chapters in a sort of montage. It's engrossing stuff and I was hard pressed putting the book down in order to score some sleep. Compulsive reading folks, give yourself plenty of time to rock on with this outing in the dark wilderness.

You have to give it to the Brit writers, they very seldom take a misstep when it comes to the linguistic nuances or the actual grammar requirements of a solid novel. That would be as opposed to this attempted review. I've long been a fan of James Herbert, hey who doesn't dig a rat novel or three, and would compare Stephen Leather very favourably with the "English Stephen King". Leather is a new must read Author for mine and as such full recommendation. Nightmare will suit those after a solid Detective yarn, those wanting some supernatural mayhem in their reading diets, and will appeal to anyone who likes to sit down with a honking big well written thriller. Fingers crossed Leather hits a full up haunted house tale in the near future.

Nightmare is available Downunder from all good bookstores and the usual suspects online. It's being distributed by the fine folk over at Hachette and you'll find further details right about here. With a recommended retail price of $19.99 we're talking value for money, I'll expect book reports by the end of the month. ScaryMinds would like to thank Brendan Fredericks for the opportunity to enjoy this excellent novel.