Samuel Johnson vs the Darkness Trilogy: The Gates, The Infernals, The Creeps

Description

Bursting with imagination and impossible to put down, these novels - 'darkly comic' (Telegraph) and 'delightfully horrific and hilarious' (Eoin Colfer) - from The Sunday Times bestselling author John Connolly, are about the pull between good and evil, physics and fantasy - and a quirky boy, who is impossible not to love, and the unlikely cast of characters who give him the strength to stand up to a demonic power. The Gates: Samuel Johnson's neighbour Mrs Abernathy is trying to open the gates of hell. It's up to Samuel to stop her, except nobody will believe him, and time is running out. The Infernals (prev. Hell's Bells): Samuel and Boswell are pulled through a portal into Hell. But Mrs Abernathy has reckoned without their bravery and cleverness, or the loyalty of Samuel's friend, the demon Nurd, and Mr Merryweather's Elves. The Creeps: Samuel and Boswell are to be guests of honour at the opening of the greatest toyshop. A splendid time will be had by all, as long as they can ignore the sinister statue that keeps moving around the town, the Shadows that are slowly blocking out the stars, murderous elves, and the fact that, somewhere, a rotten black heart is beating a rhythm of revenge.

John Connolly is author of the Charlie Parker mysteries, The Book of Lost Things, the Samuel Johnson novels for young adults and, with his partner, Jennifer Ridyard, co-author of the Chronicles of the Invaders. John Connolly's debut - EVERY DEAD THING - introduced the character of Private Investigator Charlie Parker, and swiftly launched him right into the front rank of thriller writers. All his subsequent novels have been Sunday Times bestsellers. He was the winner of the 2016 CWA Short Story Dagger for On the Anatomization of an Unknown Man (1637) by Frans Mier from NIGHT MUSIC: Nocturnes Vol 2. In 2007 he was awarded the Irish Post Award for Literature. He was the first non-American writer to win the US Shamus award and the first Irish writer to win an Edgar award. BOOKS TO DIE FOR, which he edited with Declan Burke, was the winner of the 2013 Anthony, Agatha and Macavity awards for Best Non-Fiction work.

Praise for THE GATES, HELL'S BELLS and THE CREEPS: Delightfully horrific and hilarous - Eoin Colfer Destined to be another runaway success appealing to both young adults and their parent alike - Sunday Independent A demonic, darkly comic tale . . . satisfyingly peppered with science, history and amusing footnotes on everything from St Thomas Aquinas to quantum theory, and will go down well with readers of Eoin Colfer and Lemony Snicket - Daily Telegraph Incredibly enjoyable - FHM Funny and a great read for teens - Sun Nail-biting books for children - Independent Connolly's book is a horror story but, because it's aimed at a fairly young audience, comedy is never far away - Sunday Express