Product Description

Susan and John Carter are crazy about each other and life is perfect but for one thing - they are on the brink of financial disaster. Surely being a surrogate mother to another man's child won't harm such a strong relationship? Especially when the mysterious Mr Sarotzini is offering to save their home and business - everything they've worked for. What seems to be a perfect solution begins to feel like an impossible situation. Susan's pregnancy is disturbingly painful but no-one will tell her why. It becomes apparent that Sarotzini wields immense power and Susan begins to doubt everything she knows. As she realises the terrifying origin of the dark forces Saratzini controls she is in fear for herself and John but most of all for her unborn baby ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11632 in Books
• Published on: 1998-09-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 501 pages

About the Author
Peter James is an award-winning novelist and film-maker. He was educated at Charterhouse and then film school. All his novels reflect his deep interest in medicine, science, technology and the paranormal. After living in North America for a number of years, where he was the executive producer on THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, starring Al Pacino, Peter James now lives in Sussex.

Customer Reviews

breathtaking supernatural thriller, Peter James at his best
In my view Peter James' best book yet. Gripping from the very first page. A supernatural tale that is frighteningly believable. It has all the ingredients of a classic Peter James , well portrayed characters that take you around the globe and keep you in suspense till the very last paragraph. Very well researched as we have come to expect from James. Can't remember the last time I enjoyed a book so much!

The Truth is You have to buy it.
What is the truth of the baby being carried and of the mysterious man who paid to have the surrogate mother. Devil worshipping , and yet an almost believable story.
Yet again Peter James delivers the goods , The Alchemist still remains my favourite James book but every offering seems to differ and yet thrill. If you have never read a Peter James book give yourselve a treat

A cracking good read from a master storyteller
Reviewed by Robert Parkinson

John and Susan Carter find their dream home, a large turreted house in an idyllic part of London. It needs work, but John's company are at the cutting edge of computer technology and on the way up; Susan is an editor at a City publishing house. They decide to take a risk and invest all they have in the new house.

Then the abyss beckons. John's bank Manager retires and is replaced by a new man with old values. The large overdraft that John's business have is not looked upon favourably. While John's company are heading toward a big break, they also have a court case hanging over them and the new Bank Manager doesn't think the bank's money is safe. He wants the overdraft down in a month, whatever it takes. Susan's job looks a bit unstable too when a takeover threatens to squeeze her out.

In step's Swiss Banker Emil Sarotzini. He offers to save John's business and consequently their home by paying off the business debts. In return he asks Susan to be a surrogate mother for his baby. Mr Sarotzini's wife is unable to have a child after a recent illness. He says.

Will they? Won't they? At first John and Susan are dead against, but the bank are breathing down John's neck, the business is definitely going to hit the skids unless they do something drastic, so they agree to Mr Sarotzini's offer.

By now however, the reader has become well aware that something more is going on here. Mr Sarotzini knows a lot more about the Carter's than they realise. He has a very special sidekick, Kundz, who is twisted in some very deep ways that I won't spoil for you. He is watching the Carters day and night. Especially at night, if you catch my drift.

After Susan is impregnated events begin to take a more macabre turn. The man at the centre of the court case with John's business suddenly dies. And then someone else close to the Carter's dies unexpectedly. And then another. Strange rumours begin to emerge about Mr Sarotzini himself. Is he really a Swiss banker? Can he be 110 years old, a man who was declared the Anti-Christ in 1947 and was supposed to be dead, but clearly isn't? And is Susan's very prominent gynaecologist, hired by Mr S, actually involved in Satanism and child sacrifice? Also, and here's the biggie, is the baby some kind of demonic beast, a special creation to wreak havoc on mankind?

So many questions, and Peter has your fingernails down to the quick by the time he has answered them. Like THE ALCHEMIST this book throws a lot of events together and then takes off on a wild ride into terror and chaos, pulling the reader by the seat of the pants, like it or not. And I for one liked it. A lot.

Peter James is one of those writers who tells a rollicking good story, and the pay off for the time invested is always generous. THE TRUTH is disturbing, all too plausible, and the denouement is very cleverly done.

Another winner. And that's the truth.