Mike Carey – författare

Felix Castor is a freelance exorcist, and London is his stamping ground. At a time when the supernatural world is in upheaval and spilling over into the mundane reality of the living, his skills have never been more in demand. A good exorcist can charge what he likes - and enjoy a hell of a life-style - but there''s a risk: sooner or later he''s going to take on a spirit that''s too strong for him. After a year spent in ''retirement'' Castor is reluctantly drawn back to the life he rejected and accepts a seemingly simple exorcism case - just to pay the bills, you understand. Trouble is, the more he discovers about the ghost haunting the archive, the more things don''t add up. What should have been a perfectly straightforward exorcism is rapidly turning into the Who Can Kill Castor First Show, with demons, were-beings and ghosts all keen to claim the big prize. But that''s OK; Castor knows how to deal with the dead. It''s the living who piss him off . . .

Before he died, Castor''s fellow exorcist John Gittings made several calls asking for help and if Castor had answered them, John might still be alive. So when a smooth-talking lawyer comes out of nowhere to claim the remains, Castor owes it to John''s unhappy ghost and even more unhappy widow to help out. If only life were that simple. A brutal murder in King''s Cross bears all the hallmarks of an American serial killer supposedly forty years dead, and it takes more good sense than Castor possesses not to get involved. He''s also fighting a legal battle over the body - if not the soul - of his possessed friend, Rafi, and can''t shake the feeling that his three problems are related. With the help of the succubus Juliet, paranoid zombie data-fence Nicky Heath and a little judicious digging, Castor just might have a chance of fitting the pieces together before someone drops him down a lift shaft or rips his throat out. Or not. . .

Castor has reluctantly returned to exorcism after the case of the Bonnington Archive ghost convinced him that he really can do some good with his abilities (''good'', of course, being a relative term when dealing with the undead). But his friend, Rafi, is still possessed; the succubus, Ajulutsikael (Juliet to her friends), still technically has a contract on him; and he''s still - let''s not beat around the bush - dirt poor.

Doing some consulting for the local constabulary helps pay the bills, but Castor needs a big, private job to really fill the hole in his overdraft. That''s what he needs. What he gets, good fortune and Castor not being on speaking terms, is a seemingly insignificant ''missing ghost'' case that inexorably drags himself and his loved ones into the middle of a horrific plot to raise one of Hell''s fiercest demons.

And when Satanists, sacrifice farms, stolen spirits and possessed churches all appear on the same police report, the name of Felix Castor can''t be too far behind . . .

Old ghosts of different kinds come back to haunt Fix, in the fourth gripping Felix Castor novel. Names and faces he thought he''d left behind in Liverpool resurface in London, bringing Castor far more trouble than he''d anticipated. Childhood memories, family traumas, sins old and new, and a council estate that was meant to be a modern utopia until it turned into something like hell . . . these are just some of the sticks life uses to beat Felix Castor with as things go from bad to worse for London''s favourite freelance exorcist. See, Castor''s stepped over the line this time, and he knows he''ll have to pay; the only question is: how much? Not the best of times, then, for an unwelcome confrontation with his holier-than-thou brother, Matthew. And just when he thinks things can''t possibly get any worse, along comes Father Gwillam and the Anathemata. Oh joy . . .

They say the road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but if you ask Castor he''ll tell you there''s quite a bit of arrogance and reckless stupidity lining the streets as well. And he should know. There''s only so many times you can play both sides against the middle and get away with it. Now, the inevitable moment of crisis has arrived and it''s left Castor with blood on his hands. Well, not his hands, you understand; it''s always someone else who pays the bill: friends, acquaintances, bystanders.So Castor drowns his guilt in cheap whisky, while an innocent woman lies dead and her daughter comatose, his few remaining friends fear for their lives and there''s a demon loose on the streets. But not just any demon - this one rides shotgun on his best friend''s soul and can''t be expelled without killing him. Looks like Felix Castor''s got some tough choices to make, because expel the demon he must or all Hell will break loose. Literally . . .