A Leap in the Dark by Justin Kerr-Smiley
The year is 1798. David Stoddart is a town councillor by day and a felon by night. After dark he wears a thief’s garb and prowls the streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town. But whatever the councillor steals he gambles away. He is addicted to the criminal underworld and while he fights against his passions, he is forever drawn back like a moth to a flame.
As his debts increase Stoddart forms a gang to increase his takings. One of them is an ex-convict on the run for murder. One night a raid goes disastrously wrong and a man almost dies. The councillor flees and the ex-convict betrays his companions for a reward.
Stoddart escapes to Antwerp in the hope of securing a passage to America, where he can start a new life. His luck runs out and the councillor is hauled back to Auld Reekie in chains.
Fate has turned full circle and Edinburgh’s gentleman thief must pay the price…
A Leap In The Dark shows how we are often caught on the horns of a dilemma: between darkness and light, good and evil. As Robert Louis Stevenson said: ‘Man is not truly one, but truly two.’
A Leap in the Dark will be published by Chiselbury in November 2024. It is now available at a pre-order discount. We will aim to send out pre-ordered books to arrive on publication day.
ISBN: 978-1-916556-40-9 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-1-908291-51-6 (epub)
The year is 1798. David Stoddart is a town councillor by day and a felon by night. After dark he wears a thief’s garb and prowls the streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town. But whatever the councillor steals he gambles away. He is addicted to the criminal underworld and while he fights against his passions, he is forever drawn back like a moth to a flame.
As his debts increase Stoddart forms a gang to increase his takings. One of them is an ex-convict on the run for murder. One night a raid goes disastrously wrong and a man almost dies. The councillor flees and the ex-convict betrays his companions for a reward.
Stoddart escapes to Antwerp in the hope of securing a passage to America, where he can start a new life. His luck runs out and the councillor is hauled back to Auld Reekie in chains.
Fate has turned full circle and Edinburgh’s gentleman thief must pay the price…
A Leap In The Dark shows how we are often caught on the horns of a dilemma: between darkness and light, good and evil. As Robert Louis Stevenson said: ‘Man is not truly one, but truly two.’
A Leap in the Dark will be published by Chiselbury in November 2024. It is now available at a pre-order discount. We will aim to send out pre-ordered books to arrive on publication day.
ISBN: 978-1-916556-40-9 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-1-908291-51-6 (epub)
The year is 1798. David Stoddart is a town councillor by day and a felon by night. After dark he wears a thief’s garb and prowls the streets of Edinburgh’s Old Town. But whatever the councillor steals he gambles away. He is addicted to the criminal underworld and while he fights against his passions, he is forever drawn back like a moth to a flame.
As his debts increase Stoddart forms a gang to increase his takings. One of them is an ex-convict on the run for murder. One night a raid goes disastrously wrong and a man almost dies. The councillor flees and the ex-convict betrays his companions for a reward.
Stoddart escapes to Antwerp in the hope of securing a passage to America, where he can start a new life. His luck runs out and the councillor is hauled back to Auld Reekie in chains.
Fate has turned full circle and Edinburgh’s gentleman thief must pay the price…
A Leap In The Dark shows how we are often caught on the horns of a dilemma: between darkness and light, good and evil. As Robert Louis Stevenson said: ‘Man is not truly one, but truly two.’
A Leap in the Dark will be published by Chiselbury in November 2024. It is now available at a pre-order discount. We will aim to send out pre-ordered books to arrive on publication day.
ISBN: 978-1-916556-40-9 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-1-908291-51-6 (epub)
PRAISE FOR JUSTIN KERR-SMILEY AND ‘UNDER THE SUN’
‘The gripping and beautifully paced debut of an intriguing new talent.’ WILLIAM DALRYMPLE
‘It’s a small masterpiece; the best novel that I have read about war since Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. It can well stand the comparison.’ SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
‘…Kerr-Smiley’s passionate tale should convince readers that remarkable, as well as horrific, things can happen in the midst of war.’ PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
