The Captive

Burgoyne''s debut is a Rosemary’s Baby for our conspiratorial 21st century, with a band of semi-competent activists pitted against a family of plutocratic billionaires in thrall to an ancient evil—and caught between them a new mother, and an alarmingly fussy baby with staggering supernatural powers.

“The baby is a derangement, an abomination, a Chernobyl in nappies. Think about the hail. Think about the centipedes. And that’s just in the first few days . . .”

For months, Luke and his underground revolutionary group, The Nail, have been planning their biggest operation yet: kidnapping 23-year-old heiress Adeline Woolsaw. But they don’t want a ransom—they just want to draw attention to the Woolsaw Group, the source of her parents’ vast wealth. The Woolsaw Group is an outsourcing company that runs everything from military bases to prisons. But Luke gets a shock once they bundle Adeline Woolsaw into their van. She’s about to give birth to a baby with devastating supernatural powers. And all this time the Woolsaw Group has been preparing the ground for their real aim: an infernal new kingdom that will rise with Adeline’s son sitting on its throne. This is a lean and pacy thriller which brilliantly weaves in the supernatural: killer hailstorms, toxic caterpillars and, of course, a door direct to the Underworld.