THE KING’S EVIL
Will Heinrich
From a young age, Joseph Malderoyce is drawn to painting—until he encounters Mondrian’s work and, convinced he can never equal such mastery, abandons art entirely for a career in law. Years later, after inheriting a fortune, he retreats to a lonely house in the far north. There, his quiet existence is disrupted when he finds a battered child asleep on his porch. Abel, abandoned and vulnerable, quickly becomes Joseph’s ward and closest companion. But as their bond deepens, the boy’s cunning intelligence takes a disturbing turn, forcing Joseph to confront the menace he has unwittingly harboured under his own roof.
A masterfully haunting exploration of the dark recesses of human connection, The King’s Evil unfolds its quiet unease not just between characters, but within the reader.
“Shiver, reader. Shake.”
―Kirkus Reviews“The King’s Evil is a remarkable fable of maleficence, a kind of Brothers Grimm version of The Exorcist in which a guy gets in touch with his inner child at considerable risk.”
—LA Times“Will Heinrich has written a dark fable about the boundaries of humanity. Set in a world not quite our own. The King’s Evil is an uncompromising story of two characters locked in a life-and-death struggle over the everyday minutiae of existence. Heinrich deftly examines the roots of power, evil, and love―the things that make us human, the things that separate us from inhumanity.”
―Adrian McKinty“A thriller, a fairy tale, a love story, a treatise on art and disease―this small book, somehow, becomes all of these. This is a book you will pick up and read through the night like you did as a child.”
―Andrew Sean Greer
