Victorian-era debut delights as edge-of-your-seat thriller

Mortlock
By Jon Mayhew
Published by Bloomsbury
ISBN 978 14088 03929

This terrific thriller/chiller is essential reading for anyone who enjoys getting so involved in a book, they can't physically tear themselves away.

Mortlock is an outstanding debut novel that boasts not only a chilling plot, unusual characters and edge-of-the-seat suspense, but also pages and pages of very superior storytelling. Jon Mayhew is a new and classy storyteller who will certainly attract a loyal fan base with this book.

Mayhew sets up his story with an intriguing prologue that does just what a prologue should do - it hooks readers and makes sure they want to know what happens next.

Three explorers, Mortlock, Chrimes and Corvis are on an expedition to Africa's Abyssinian jungle in 1820 to track down the amaranth flower, a fabled bloom that gives eternal life. They find the precious plant, but an unseen force instils deep fear in them as they discuss how to remove the flower from its habitat. Terrified by their discovery, the three men agree to leave the flower in place and return to London without their prize.

Thirty years later, the three men have forgotten about the amaranth. Or have they? Chrimes has become a stage magician performing death-defying tricks with Josie, his young ward. Lord Corvis lives in an isolated mansion enjoying the life of a rich gentleman. Yet what has become of Mortlock? He seems to have vanished.