The Last Days of Jack Sparks: The most chilling and unpredictable thriller of the year
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By Jason Arnopp
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1 review
‘MAGNIFICENT’ Alan Moore
‘I COULDN’T PUT THE BOOK DOWN’ Ron Howard
‘CHILLING AND UTTERLY IMMERSIVE’ M. R. Carey
It was no secret that journalist Jack Sparks had been researching the occult for his new book. No stranger to controversy, he’d already triggered a furious Twitter storm by mocking an exorcism he witnessed.
Then there was that video: forty seconds of chilling footage that Jack repeatedly claimed was not of his making, yet was posted from his own YouTube account.
Nobody knew what happened to Jack in the days that followed – until now.
‘Fascinating, hilarious, disturbing, exciting and surprising as hell’ Ron Howard, director of Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and The Da Vinci Code
‘Brilliantly paced, utterly compelling, I didn’t have a clue what would happen’ Toby Whithouse
‘Super spooky and addictively written’ Heat
‘We fell hard for Jason Arnopp’s whip-smart and impulsive thriller . . . meet your new favourite book’ iBooks Store
‘Wittier than the lovechild of Stephen Fry and Charlie Brooker, scarier than watching The Exorcist in an abandoned asylum’ Sarah Lotz, author of The Three
‘This is The Omen for the social media age’ Chris Brookmyre
‘Ingenious and funny . . . A magnificent millennial nightmare’ Alan Moore
DISCOVER THIS YEAR’S MOST TALKED-ABOUT THRILLER – perfect for fans of Stephen King, Irvine Welsh and Chuck Palahniuk.
Look out for GHOSTER, the new razor-sharp supernatural thriller from Jason Arnopp
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Reviews
Well it has been a good while since I enjoyed a book as much as this one. As soon as I saw it I was hoping it would live up to its great looking cover, as so often you can be disappointed by a shiny outside.
No such problems. I read this book in about two sittings - the second of which was in a very public coffeehouse chain drinking frappuccinos as I didn't really want to read it alone in the house.
To start with, it's ascerbically and irreverently funny. Knowing, sarcastic, and led by a leading character full of hubris that you want to punch, agree with (occasionally), and share a drink with (nothing stronger mind) - he says the worst things you've ever thought, and then things a million times worse, which make you wince.
Then there's the actual story - with flavours of Christopher Brookmyre's Jack Parlabane exposing frauds in Attack of the Unsinkable Rubber Ducks, and then descending into territory more like the quite terrifying Pandaemonium, you're taken down a rabbit hole of unreliable narration, found footage and an ongoing question between whether that spooky stuff is real, or just the sign of a dangerously disturbed mind.
I know a book is genuinely frightening when I start making OCD hand gestures while reading - this was in full effect. In places the horror reminded me of John Dies at the End by David Wong (a book I had to hide between readings just in case).
Ultimately, it is not a book I would give to my mum, but if you're looking for funny and clever scary stuff, you really won't do better than this.
