Reviews

High above the streets of London lurks a rooftop society intent on conquering and destroying the world below. Fowler's first novel combines mystery, ritual murder, and the discovery of an ancient, lost art in a skillfully written story that should entertain readers of horror and speculative fiction. JC

In this ambitious first novel by a writer of short horror fiction ( City Jitters ), London film producer Robert Linden pursues the daughter of the late author of a book for which he would like to acquire rights. The deceased author's gutsy, adventurous neighbor Rose joins Robert in his search, which takes them to the rooftops of London, where those discontented with the dehumanized existence of urban life below have joined an alternative society that has thrived since the 1920s and continues under the leadership of former practicing physician Nathaniel Zalian. Now, however, it is threatened by Chymes, madman, necromancer and leader of a gang of drug addicts and skinheads. This cardboard villain with mystic trappings hopes to take over the rooftops, then the heart of the city, and has begun to perform torturous and grisly executions, modeled on alchemic processes, of victims whose blood he believes brings him strength. The alchemical symbology at first seems exotic, but it is put to little dramatic use: descriptions of the murders are graphic and horrifying but do not convey the power of ritual killings. Action scenes are fast paced and the conflict is well devised, but the novel is less enthralling than it would be if the charactersdefined almost entirely by their roles in the story linewere given either the mythic dimensions of comic-book characters or the complexity of real people. That the plot lapses into predictability would not detract from the tale if the reader cared more about the outcome. (September)