These two, perhaps, can catch the Silver Knife, but both realize the case has implications far more important than the clearing-up of a string of unimportant killings. This panoramic novel of altered history and literary speculation combines horror, mystery, romance, politics and wit, as Kim Newman brilliantly reinvents the familiar world of late Victorian melodrama, intermingling famous historical and fictional characters while penetrating the fog to discover the shocking truths. Paul, a young academic and his girlfriend, Hazel, have come to Alder to live and work. But their vision of an idyllic rural retreat is shattered as the laws of nature disintegrate around them. Fish sprout from trees.
Mythical creatures prowl the streets at night.
Evil thoughts are plucked from the minds of men and melded together into a terrifying force. Paul and Hazel are soon drawn into a vortex of fear as violent chaos engulfs the community. At the heart of the dark force is the spiritual leader of the Agapemone, a bizarre religious sect. He goes by the name of Reverend Anthony Jago. A man who is trying to create Heaven on Earth.