Up for Review: Me and the Devil

This is the second time writer Nick Tosches shares his name and profession with his main character. The first time he was a thief, stealing an original manuscript of The Divine Comedy. This time he’s a writer who dabbles in vampirism and descends into madness. It’s more than enough to spark my curiosity.

Me and the Devil by Nick Tosches (Little, Brown)

Marketing copy from NetGalley:

An aging New Yorker, a writer named Nick, feels life ebbing out of him. One night, at a dimly lit bar, he meets a tantalizing young woman, and the night that follows is the most extraordinary of his life. Propelled by uncontrollable, primordial desires, he tastes human blood for the first time and is filled with a sexual and spiritual ecstasy.

His revival quickly fades, and soon Nick is yearning for another taste of the elusive rapture. There follows a descent into madness and unimaginable hell, and a pursuit of otherworldly revelation.

With his vast knowledge of ancient wisdom, Nick Tosches has written a raw and blazing story that tracks from our darkest desires to the most sublime quests for beauty and truth. Outrageous, disturbing, and brilliant, Me and the Devil is a novel unlike any other.

Nick Tosches is uniquely acquainted with the half-lit New York world in which this novel is set. He is the author of three previous novels, In the Hand of Dante, Cut Numbers, and Trinities. His nonfiction works include Where Dead Voices Gather, The Devil and Sonny Liston, Dino, Power on Earth, Hellfire, Country, and Unsung Heroes of Rock ‘n’ Roll. He lives in New York City.

 

Links
Add it on Goodreads
Read an excerpt
Me and the Devil on the publisher’s website
Buy a copy at The Book Depository

About the author:
Website
Wikipedia
Vanity Fair profile (Contributing Editor)
Goodreads page

Up for Review: Kingdom of Strangers

Oops, I requested another third-in-series novel, without every having heard of the first two…. But not to worry, this definitely looks like it can stand alone. I’m also really curious about the context – a mystery set in Saudi Arabia, where the story is affected by the society’s repressive religious doctrines, and one of the investigators is a woman.

Kingdom of Strangers by Zoë Ferraris (Little, Brown)

Marketing copy from NetGalley:

A secret grave in the desert is unearthed revealing the mutilated bodies of nineteen women and the shocking truth that a serial killer has been operating undetected in Jeddah for more than a decade.

However, lead inspector Ibrahim Zahrani is distracted by a mystery closer to home. His mistress has suddenly disappeared, but he cannot report her missing, since adultery is punishable by death. With nowhere to turn, Ibrahim brings the case to Katya, one of the few women on the force. Drawn into both investigations, she must be increasingly careful to hide a secret of her own.

Portraying the lives of women in one of the most closed cultures in the world, award-winning author Zoë Ferraris weaves a tale of psychological suspense that delves into the darkest corners of the Saudi underworld.

Zoë Ferraris moved to Saudi Arabia in the aftermath of the first Gulf War to live with her then husband and his extended family of Saudi-Palestinian Bedouins. She has an MFA from Columbia University and is the author of two previous novels, Finding Nouf and City of Veils. She lives in San Francisco.

Kingdom of Strangers is the third in a series entitled Nayir al-Sharqi, and will be published on 5 June by Little, Brown.