The Spider Dance

Nick Setchfield author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Titan Books Ltd

Published:16th Jul '19

£7.99

Available to order, but very limited on stock - if we have issues obtaining a copy, we will let you know.

The Spider Dance cover

A genre-defying page turner that fuses thriller and speculative fiction with dark fantasy in a hidden world in the heart of Cold War Europe. THE TRUE COLD WAR IS FOUGHT ON THE BORDERS OF THIS WORLD, AT THE EDGES OF THE LIGHT. It’s 1965 and Christopher Winter is trying to carve a new life, a new identity, beyond his days in British Intelligence. Recruited by London’s gangland he now finds himself on the wrong side of the law – and about to discover that the secret service has a way of claiming back its own. Who is the fatally alluring succubus working honeytraps for foreign paymasters? What is the true secret of the Shadowless, a fabled criminal cabal deadlier than the Mafia? And why do both parties covet long- buried caskets said to hold the hearts of kings? Winter must confront the buried knowledge of his own past to survive – but is he ready to embrace the magic that created the darkness waiting there?

"1960s James Bond meets demons and necromancy."
Radio Times summer reads pick

Praise for the series

“James Bond meets Indiana Jones... a rip-roaring adventure. This is the book you’ll be reading on the beach even when it rains or the sun goes down" Mark Millar

"A rattling good read... it's thrilling" Russell T Davies

“This book had a tremendous sense of paranoia and uncertainty, and a plot that kept me riveted to find out how it would resolve” Genevieve Cogman

“Nick Setchfield's occult spy thriller is a smooth blend of James Bond and M.R. James, played with tons of wit and style. This is something new that entertains like something old. Triumphantly suave” Paul Cornell

"Like an irresistible blend of a John Le Carré spy thriller and Hammer's The Devil Rides Out, Nick Setchfield's debut novel is a vivid and compelling page-turner, which propels you from scene to scene with such verve and invention that you have no choice but to keep reading. It's the sort of book you pick up, thinking, 'I'll just have five minutes', and an hour later you're still feverishly turning the pages, because you have to find out what happens next" Mark Morris

“Nick Setchfield’s The War in the Dark is a thrilling, shocking, action-packed delight! Its horror and magical elements are firmly grounded in a beautifully realised, strangely topical reality, and its momentum never lets up. An assured, memorable debut” Tim Lebbon

"A compelling fusion of Bond-era espionage and occult horror" James Brogden

"A deliciously wild fantasy combining some of the genre s best elements" Marie Claire

"A combination of James Bond, Indiana Jones, and The X-Files set in a post-World War II world, this sf/alternative history debut will appeal to fans who enjoy similar genre mashups" Library Journal

"Nick Setchfield's dark, lightning-quick The War in the Dark... is a tight, high-intensity spook-fest that never wavers from its vision. Setchfield is a master at choosing just the right word to remind us where we are and how we should feel. The reader may rarely get a chance to breathe, but this breathlessness is invigorating" BookPage

"A super-fast paced thriller with believable bits of spycraft and unbelievable (but acceptable) bits of magecraft.... You know this is the start of a series. You should get in on the ground floor" Bookgasm

"I'd read much more in the spy thriller genre if they were as fun and fresh as this one" SciFi Movie Page - 4-Star Review

"As many cool occult twists as spy thrills... I'd love to read more novels set in this world and am honestly rather surprised that I've never encountered anything like this before" The Frumious Consortium

"Reads like an old-fashioned spy thriller, but with the contemporary sensibilities of a conspiracy thriller. It's tense, unsettling, and altogether fascinating" Beauty in Ruins

"Rampaging across Europe hunting artefacts Da Vinci Code style, dealing with the supernatural like the horror masters of old, and second guessing spies the match of any John leCarre creation, plenty of tasty ingredients thrown in" Weekend Sport

"Equally thrilling as it is chilling" Ginger Nuts of Horror

"Setchfield has written a compelling and thrilling story that floats wonderfully in the imagination long after the book has finished" The Dreamcage

"Meshes the genre of fantasy, thriller, supernatural, horror, and an adventure all together and it works marvelously" Geekisphere

ISBN: 9781785657115

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 368g

416 pages