The Book of Thunder and Lightning: A Novel

by Seb Duncan

Overview

A vigilante ghost stalks the East End of London... Before the lightning, he was just a boy, now he’s ready for revenge. The Book of Thunder and Lightning is a Gothic mashup of Oliver Twist and Top Boy, a love letter to London, wrapped up in a mind-bending ghost story. In 1888, unlucky Tom Baxter is thrown into a world of toxic masculinity, where his only weapon is his imagination. But at least he’s got his crew, a gang of misfits just like him, to back him up. As lightning stretches across time and space to a gritty 21st-century London, history is repeating itself. Tom has the chance to save his modern-day twin, with help from a reluctant hero, a posh girl from Chelsea, and a donkey called Dorris. His luck has to change sometime, right?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781803416786
Publisher:	Collective Ink
Publication date:	12/10/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Seb Duncan holds a PGCert in Teaching Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge and a Masters in Creative Writing and Education from Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a regular writing contributor to GoldDust. His research paper on writing process, Google Street View meets Wandering Rocks appears in the 2022 edition of Creative Power, the anthology of students on the Creative Writing and Education MA programme at Goldsmiths, University of London. He lives in London, UK.

Editorial Reviews

11/18/2024

This overloaded supernatural thriller from Duncan (Headcase) toggles between past and present to reveal the surprising link between Tom Baxter, a Victorian schoolchild, and Simon Beaver, a would-be journalist supporting himself by writing restaurant reviews and tutoring. Tom’s father, Frank, lost his job when he became blind, forcing Tom to try his best to provide for his parents and younger sister. This responsibility brings him into the orbit of two repellent figures. Haberdasher Theodore Hush insists that Tom steal a watch for him in return for food, and then, when Tom is caught, the intended victim, Arthur Snipe, withdraws charges in exchange for Tom working in Snipe’s paint business, which is actually a front to distribute narcotics. This Dickensian plot is harrowing and easy to get sucked into, but the story loses steam in the modern sections when Tom surfaces as a ghost and teams up with Simon through a kind of spirit world “exchange program.” Simon, meanwhile, accidentally becomes embroiled with a drug ring himself through one of his tutoring clients. The past is far more vivid than the present, and the device connecting the two eras feels clunky. Readers will be frustrated. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly