The White Devil

Starting a new school is never easy but when the school is across the ocean, is exclusive, and has a 400-year-old history, the rituals and adjustments a new student faces is even more daunting. This is what faces Andrew Taylor as he prepares to cross the threshold of his new private school, The Harrow School. Sent there by his father as a last-ditch effort to improve his grades and standing among elite college boards, Andrew knows that he cannot screw up again or else the consequences will be dire. Unfortunately, a mysterious force seems bent on preventing Andrew from walking the straight-and-narrow. Just how far is Andrew will to pushing the envelope in this unfamiliar environment while attempting to solve the mystery? Does Andrew even show more stand a chance?

Any time a story is based even partially in fact, the rest of the plot becomes much more interesting. This formula holds true for The White Devil. Anyone with access to the Internet can do a quick search to determine whether Byron's life story really was as dramatic and diverse as it is mentioned in the story. Given the eyebrow-raising facts mentioned in the heat of the story, most readers will feel the urge to do just that. This in no way detracts from the plot but rather adds to the ring of authenticity exuding from its pages.

The mastery of The White Devil is not only in the literary history weaved into the story, the grim atmosphere takes on a life of its own. The dreary and damp weather, while often construed as a cliche about London weather, truly does come to mirror the mood of the characters, their hopelessness, and despair. The rain represents their frustrations at the lack of understanding and confusion about what is truly occurring. Mr. Evans executes this idea of the backdrop becoming a secondary character in a novel brilliantly, bringing to the story a very old-fashioned, Gothic feel that works brilliantly with the plot itself.

Andrew Taylor and Piers Fawkes, as the two main characters, are uniquely flawed but so well-suited to the story. Both have flawed pasts and are given the opportunity to grow beyond their flaws. Yet, the reader never knows whether each character will do so. The reader's inability to predict either character's behavior or reactions only adds to the confusion and growing dread. Combined with the atmosphere and historical elements, this unpredictability succeeds at keeping a reader breathlessly on edge up through the very last lines.

The White Devil has it all - atmosphere, history, supernatural activity, mystery. It is a perfect read for a stormy autumnal afternoon, as its eeriness fits so well with the idea of decay and retreat that permeates the air during that time of year. However, that is not to say that a reader cannot enjoy it at any point in time during the year. I finished it on a bright morning in May; even though the weather was sunny and warm, I still managed to feel chilled and uneasy at the action unfolding before my eyes. Mr. Evans has successfully captured all of the elements of a true Gothic horror novel, making The White Devil a must-read for any fans of that particular genre.

Thank you to Mark Ferguson from HarperCollins for my review copy! show less

Of course the cover (and the title) intrigued me right from the start, but did little to prepare me for the ferocity of this book. I know a lot of reviewers are saying the book started off slowly, but I would put it more as "vaguely," which is good considering it built suspense...and I mean a mound of it.

The "vague" beginning, like John Harness's fog, did leave me fighting my way through at first, but like any good suspense story, you want to know what happens, and that's exactly what the author begins to make you crave as you grasp onto the present and the past that the main character is experiencing.

I was surprised at how phenomenal some of the phrasing was--this book is just excellently crafted. I wanted to mark some of my favorite show more passages for later but I loved the book so much I didn't dare disturb it! (And that's saying a lot, coming from me.)

All in all, this is one of the best books I've read this year with the only complaint being the ending, but not because it wasn't good...because I'm a spoiled brat when it comes to endings and I wanted it to end MY WAY. I'll also say this is probably not the best book for YA, but who am I to judge that--I mean, most of them probably know by now what penises are. show less

For as long as I can remember I've been a sucker for gothic thrillers, especially those set at British boarding schools. There's so much potential there - the ancient school buildings, the fog-shrouded landscapes, the sense of history frozen in time, the wafting hint of repression and unnatural obsessions. Alas, despite all that potential, no example of the genre has ever lived up to my melodramatic expectations. Either they're so poorly written that it's an effort not to gag at the overworked metaphors and lame cliches, or else they devolve into a climax so anticlimactic and silly that I find myself thinking: "Really? I've read all this way, and that's all you've got?"

And then, finally, a book that delivers the goods! White Devil is a show more literate, well paced, dense ghost story with characters that engage, writing that absorbs, red herrings so intriguing you'll enjoy being led astray, and a plot that keeps tightening the tension until the final sentences of the story's wholly original, wholly satisfying, wholly creepy denouement.

The story revolves around Andrew Taylor, a 17yr old American boy exiled by his outraged parents to an exclusive English boarding School after scandal and a death force him to flee his school in Connecticut. But the ghosts he's left behind are nothing compared to the ghost waiting for him at Harrow School - a pallid, spectral lad whose soul remains bound to earth by 200-year old cruelties and jealousies. Now add to the mix a bitter, washed-up poet grasping at his last chance to redeem himself; an eerily beautiful but precocious female classmate; White Devil, a bloody revenge tragedy authored by the troubled 19th century playwright John Webster; and rehearsals for a production of the life of the beautiful, scandalous, haunted Lord Byron (a Harrow School alumnus), to whom Andrew bears an uncanny resemblance ... set it all in an ancient boarding school complete with petty (and not so petty) adolescent cruelty, secrets concealed behind crumbling stone, and a string of mysterious deaths that begin soon after Andrew's arrival at Harrow ... stir vigorously, and enjoy losing yourself in a tale that is sure to keep you enthralled until the final paragraphs.

Props to Justin Evans, whose bio reveals no particular literary credentials, for producing this literate gothic thriller. It's not easy to produce extreme characters that don't come off as sterotypical, to create mood/atmosphere that doesn't come off as stagy, to construct a plot so dense that the story never stops delivering chills, and to resist the urge to wrap up the story with a full and pat disclosure that explains all. Evans writes with the mastery of language and assurance of a pro. How fortunate that the idea for this story fell into the hands of someone able to make the most of it! show less

I picked this up based on a recommendation I saw from Stephen King in Entertainment Weekly. I had high hopes for this book but it never took off for me. There were many places where I had to force myself to get through it. The novel takes place when Andrew Taylor, fresh from being dismissed from his American prep school due to drugs, enrolls in the Harrow boarding school in England. Andrew bears a remarkable likeness to the poet, Lord Byron and his arrival at the school seems to set off a string of illness and deaths. In my opinion the pacing was not good. For most of the book nothing happens and then it is all wrapped up in the final chapters. In addition I did not like the characters. Some characteristics that could be ascribed to show more them include cold blooded, black mailing, stalker, murderer, promiscuous, and drug abuser. There were some graphic scenes, if it was a movie it would be rated R. I love a good Gothic English ghost story but I found this to be a let down. It made me long for the first time I read the far superior A Woman in Black. show less

Chuck the flying brooms and magic wands from that other spooky English school, mix in a dose of teen love affair from Scott Spencer's Endless Love and piss off the jealous stalker ghost of Lord Byron (former Harrow student) and you get genius, The White Devil! A beautifully crafted multi-level plot that flows simultaneously like subterranean rivers beneath the modern world. A past play, a present play and a future play reveals lost pieces of history and if the puzzle remains unsolved, people will die. The moment Andrew (the catalyst) arrives at Harrow, these events are put in motion-- words and lines slip through ears weaving the characters closer and making it impossible to tear apart. What starts off as an assignment turns into an show more obsession. The characters are driven by a unfortunate murder investigation associated with paranormal mysteries capable of appearing through the veil and attaching to the living. The parallels between characters provides the perfect circuit for this performance. The original goal of the present play was to discover whom Lord Byon's truly loved. While searching for answers, the characters might discover their own love, sacrifice, witness the terror of jealousy and ultimately define happiness. The characters experience small changes that don't over power the story with a grand epiphany, but rather serve to draw them in and bond with humanity. If nothing else, jealousy, oaths and revenge live long beyond the grave. It is best not to cheat the living because the cost will be astronomically greater than ever imagined. This is a book I'd re-read and in fact, want to read it again right now! Absolutely fell in love with The White Devil and will recommend it to many readers. Do we find out who Lord Byron truly loved? I'm left with 3 choices and would love to debate with others. It's absolutely fascinating. I'm very curious to get other readers take and impression about this read. Currently, available at NetGalley and also Amazon Vine. show less

I had never really looked into the background of Lord Byron, but this book will got me up to speed rather quickly. Byron not only left behind a legacy as a poet, we find that he also left behind a ghost. Not his own ghost, but the ghost of his envious homosexual lover, John Harness. Harness spent 200 years or so as a quiet spirit in the basement of Harrow School, doing nothing much more than the sporadic rattling. But when American student Andrew Taylor shows up at the school, he decides that Taylor looks so much like Byron that it's time to get some long awaited vengeance.

Harness has some unbelievable gifts as a ghost, and Taylor does a lot of scuttling to try and solve the mystery. The pace is quick and tends to jump around, as we show more cross the country and dart back-and-forth across the centuries. It’s wonderfully fun and funny. In fact it created what the urban dictionary calls a brain boner. In other words I now want to know everything I can about Lord Byron’s life.

3 Stars show less

The White Devil

What an engaging and thrilling book! All parts ghost story, love story, historical tale, literary treatise, mystery, psychological thriller, medical crisis, gloomy-homophobic/homoerotic boys’ school story, and coming-of-age tragic triumph. This book is many things and yet manages to weave them together into a story that flows with characters that grab you. This story manages to be sad while keeping the reader engaged enough in both the mystery and the lives of the characters. Part of what makes the story so engaging is that the reader doesn’t know where to place his/her sympathy. Evans crafts individuals who are all flawed, understandable, and sympathetic. Even the ghost, first seen as a horrific murderer, can be show more understood, in its vengeful quest driven by heartbroken confusion. Even the least detailed characters, i.e. Roddy, Sir. Vine, and Persephonie, still have a depth. The setting, the constant descriptions of the atmosphere, lend weight to the creeping horror of the ghost and its actions, present struggles, and history’s indiscretions.

One of my favorite parts was the humorous and insightful dialogue (I read aloud to my husband the conversation between Piers and Kahn where she both berates him for being selfish and encourages him that he can be a better person). I enjoyed the way spoken word was sometimes in italics. I usually don’t like when books jump around and effectively “black out” of scenes, but it fit this story very well.

This book is an excellent read that does a good job capturing, engaging and thrilling, and then provides an ending which wraps up the events in a way that fits the tone of the story and doesn’t simper to the intelligence and personality of both the characters and the reader. show less