Weathercock

Funny, shocking, gripping, challenging, contemporary, eternal, on the side of both God and the Devil - the new novel by one of Britain's most talented and confronting young writers asks what stops us doing the worst thing there is. This is the confession of Dominic Francis Hood - Roman Catholic, sadist, conspirator to murder, witness to a miracle. Dominic's childhood had the usual cardinal points: the love of his family, a vague belief in God, a general curiosity, an emerging libido. But after he witnesses a miracle performed by Father Ignatius Malone, Dominic realises some part of him is skewed. Instead of becoming attracted to good, Dominic finds himself stimulated by the idea of other people's pain. And he knows that the mere fantasy will never be enough. WEATHERCOCK is the great modern moral inquiry, by one of England's brightest and most confronting young novelists. By turns hilarious, appalling, celebratory and sad, it is an investigation of profound temptations and those human weapons - sometimes formidable, sometimes frail - we bring to bear against them.