Never have I read a book with names as weird as this. Agetta Lamian is the servant of Dr. Sabian Blake, a cabalist who has discovered the prophesy of Wormwood, the star which will fall to earth during Tribulation, in the Nemorensis, a much sought-after book, which is thought to hold the secrets of the universe. The trouble is that Sabian is not the only who wants it. A host of shady characters trawl the shit-soaked streets of London, eating cheese covered in mites, being chased by angels with their wings cut off. Wormwood also refers to the 'green fairy', absinthe, which contributes to some of the greed, vice and lust in the book's characters.

This book has been described as the "Christian Harry Potter", and in some ways it is. A fallen angel called Tegatus is bewitched by a female demon, in this life called Hezrin Flamberg. Ghosts roam the streets and bookshops of London, trapped between Heaven and Hell, their souls stolen by demons, their bodies flung out of a trapdoor on the London Bridge. There are clear biblical references, but the gory deaths – among them a heart ripped from a man's chest, the broken skin cauterised by the burning hand of the murderer – are far from the jolly ghosts and clean sofas of the Hogwarts common room.

I always love to read scenes where people eat, mainly because I love food, but this delicious plate of eels could change my mind:

Blake stabbed at the eels that writhed and squirmed and , spearing several, he quicky swallowed them whole, gulping the fish down as the taste of scales and salt gagged the back of his throat…'Delicious,' he said half-heartedly swallowing mouthfuls of air as he tried to keep the contents of his stomach from churning. He was convinced that they were still moving, that they would never die and would be seen again."

Nice….

All in all, I was never a fan of morality tales, what with the preachyness and all, but it is full of gross details about 18th century London which make you want to go back in time and give them a bar of soap.

Wikipedia for the picture of absinthe.