The Devil Aspect

October 15, 2018

In 1935, Jung-trained psychiatrist Viktor Kosárek arrives at the Hrad Orlu Asylum for the Criminally Insane near Prague, where he tries to prove that the six vicious killers there share an archetype called the Devil Aspect. Meanwhile, the Prague police need help finding a serial killer imitating Jack the Ripper. From a Scottish author who won the CWA Dagger in the Library.

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2018
In 1935 Prague, vicious murders are linked to a medieval castle housing an insane asylum outside the city in this well-crafted gothic crime tale.Psychiatrist Viktor Kosárek tests his theory about the evil in humans on the six inmates--the "most notorious cases in Central Europe"--of the Hrad Orl? Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Prague Police Kapitán Lukás Smolák, the vegetarian son of a butcher, hopes a glass bead at the latest gory crime scene will help identify the serial killer Leather Apron. As these two storylines converge, Russell (The Quiet Death of Thomas Quaid, 2016, etc.), a Scottish author making his U.S. publishing debut, plants tantalizing parallels. Take the bead: One inmate's husband (whom she cooked and fed to his sister) sold glass beads like the one Lukás found. The Kapitán heads to the asylum to consult one of the so-called Devil's Six, who is a glass expert and earlier mentions beads known as the Tears of Perun from Slavic mythology, part of a rich vein of lore and legend that Russell weaves into the narrative. The asylum cases have "odd commonalities," particularly a demonic figure who abets or is blamed for the violence. Plausible perps abound. Lukás dreams of helping his father slaughter one of Leather Apron's victims. Lukás' medical examiner is the twin of one of the six nasties. The head of the asylum mysteriously disappears into his office for days. In the background but never forgotten is the rising political threat from Germany, the "Madness of the Many." A seasoned writer, Russell keeps the police case moving at a good clip, more so than the clinical narrative and its unavoidable repetitions. Each has nice surprises but nothing to match the ending, which offers more twists than a Chubby Checker album.A smart, atmospheric, and entertaining read but not for the Jung and easily Freudened.

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Starred review from February 1, 2019
Young psychiatrist Viktor Kos�rek leaves Prague for a position at Hrad Orlu, an ancient castle that has had many uses over the centuries. The forbidding structure now houses the Devil's Six, Czechoslovakia's worst criminals?a woman who is a strict vegetarian except when she's a cannibal, for example, and a serial killer who spent days torturing a family (gory violence is meticulously and calmly described by these patients, making it all the more frightening). Kos�rek uses sedatives to coax from the six their innermost motivations, the causes of their awful deeds, which he calls the devil aspect. Evil prowls outside the walls, too, as Kos�rek has left a city that is in the grip of a serial killer's terror, and Hitler is making his rise to power. Award-winning Scottish author Russell makes his American debut here, and it's not only one of the most memorable thrillers of the year; it's also unique: the premise is strikingly original, and the mood created by the juxtaposition of the patients' memories and the real-time horrors is utterly chilling. Readers will eagerly await other books by the author becoming available stateside.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)