The Devil Will Come

April 20, 2015
In a suitably ominous prelude to this imaginative thriller set in 1139 C.E. Rome, Bishop Malachy observes an unusual celestial event known as the Devil’s Tail, leading him to prophesy that, after 112 more popes, the world will end. In 2000, Elisabetta Celestino survives a murderous assault in Rome, carried out by a man with a tail. In response, she becomes a nun, but 12 years later she leaves her convent when a former professor asks her to help him explore some catacombs that may contain ancient astrological symbols she could decipher. To her shock, what she finds instead are the skeletal remains of almost 100 human bodies, all with bony tails. Cooper prolongs the suspense of the modern-day plot with flashbacks that portray the Emperor Nero and playwright Christopher Marlowe in surprising ways, which provide novel explanations for the burning of Rome and Marlowe’s murder. An interesting variation on a familiar theme.