The devil aspect : the strange truth behind the occurrences at Hrad Orlů Asylum for the Criminally Insane : a novel
by Russell, Craig, 1956- (Author)
Summary
Prague, 1935: Viktor Kosárek, a psychiatrist newly trained by Carl Jung, arrives at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. The state-of-the-art facility is located in a medieval mountaintop castle outside of Prague, though the site is infamous for concealing dark secrets going bac... Full description
Summary: |
Prague, 1935: Viktor Kosárek, a psychiatrist newly trained by Carl Jung, arrives at the infamous Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane. The state-of-the-art facility is located in a medieval mountaintop castle outside of Prague, though the site is infamous for concealing dark secrets going back many generations. The asylum houses the country's six most treacherous killers--known to the staff as The Woodcutter, The Clown, The Glass Collector, The Vegetarian, The Sciomancer, and The Demon--and Viktor hopes to use a new medical technique to prove that these patients share a common archetype of evil, a phenomenon known as The Devil Aspect. As he begins to learn the stunning secrets of these patients, five men and one woman, Viktor must face the disturbing possibility that these six may share another dark truth. Meanwhile, in Prague, fear grips the city as a phantom serial killer emerges in the dark alleys. Police investigator Lukas Smolak, desperate to locate the culprit (dubbed Leather Apron in the newspapers), realizes that the killer is imitating the most notorious serial killer from a century earlier--London's Jack the Ripper. Smolak turns to the doctors at Hrad Orlu for their expertise with the psychotic criminal mind, though he worries that Leather Apron might have some connection to the six inmates in the asylum. Steeped in the folklore of Eastern Europe, and set in the shadow of Nazi darkness erupting just beyond the Czech border, this stylishly written, tightly coiled, richly imagined novel is propulsively entertaining, and impossible to put down.-- |
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Physical Description: |
414 pages ; 25 cm |
ISBN: |
9780385544368 0385544367 |
Author Notes: |
Craig Russell was born in England and is also known as Christopher Galt. He is a short story writer and novelist. His special interest in post-war German history is reflected in his Fabel series, which includes historical themes. In 2007 he was awarded the Polizeistern (Police Star) by the Hamburg Police. He is the first non-German to ever receive this award. Russell also won the 2008 CWA Dagger in the Library Award. He was also a finalist for the 2013 Ellis Peters Historical Dagger for Dead Men and Broken Hearts. In 2015 his novel, The Ghosts of Altona won the Scottish Crime Novel of the Year at the Bloody Scotland Festival. (Bowker Author Biography) |