The House of Rumour - Hardcover

Jake Arnott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0340922729 ISBN 13: 9780340922729

Publisher: Sceptre, 2012

Synopsis

Larry Zagorski spins wild tales of fantasy worlds for pulp magazines. But as the Second World War hangs in the balance, the lines between imagination and reality are starting to blur. In London, spymasters enlist occultists in the war of propaganda. In Southern California, a charismatic rocket scientist summons dark forces and an SF writer founds a new religion. In Munich, Nazis consult astrologists as they plot peace with the West and dominion over the East. And a conspiracy is born that will ripple through the decades to come. The truth, it seems, is stranger than anything Larry could invent. But when he looks back on the 20th century, the past is as uncertain as the future. Just where does truth end and illusion begin? THE HOUSE OF RUMOUR is a novel of soaring ambition, a mind-expanding journey through the ideas that have put man on the moon yet brought us to the brink of self-destruction. What will you believe?

About this title

About the Author

Jake Arnott was born in 1961, and lives in London. He is the author of THE LONG FIRM, published by Sceptre in 1999 and subsequently made into an acclaimed BBC TV series. His second novel, HE KILLS COPPERS, was also made into a series by Channel 4. He has since published the novels TRUECRIME, JOHNNY COME HOME, THE DEVIL'S PAINTBRUSH and THE HOUSE OF RUMOUR.

Review

It isn't a book, it's a revelation. * Geek Syndicate blog * a thrillingly ideas-packed tale of spies, SF writers, cult leaders, rocket scientists, astronauts, UFO spotters, magicians, astrologists, film makers, rock starts, artists, actors, adulterers and unrequited lovers, all woven into a web where truth and illusion meet. * Book Oxygen * A potent mix of fact and fiction that takes on 20th-century history but remains a page-turner * Elle * A tantalizing, intelligent novel * Metro * While all novelists are called upon to fictionalise reality, Jake Arnott stands out as a dark prince of confabulation....The House of Rumour is a novel that seeks to fold time and space into a series of linked situations...this novel is more than a collection of obscure biographies; it's also about timing and dislocation, and how life and history rest on what sci-fi readers may know as a "Jonbar Hinge", a point at which the future could have taken a different path...If this is that dark Prince Arnott's Jonbar Hinge, the future looks bright. * Andrew Anthony, Observer * a virtuoso blurring of fact and fantasy...Arnott is able to indulge his pitch-perfect flair for parody and pastiche...Highly entertaining and perhaps even mind-expanding, Arnott's high-class conjuring act shows that truth really is stranger than fiction. * Phil Baker, The Sunday Times * meticulously researched, full of skilful literary ventriloquism and the occasional pastiche (the Fleming section, for example, deftly parodies that author's pragmatic prose style). Above all, Arnott is forgiving of humankind, of our high aspirations and our failure to meet them, of our low behaviour and our unwillingness to take responsibility for it. * James Lovegrove, Financial Times * Arnott offers a brightly coloured portrait of our times that is alternatively intimate and epic...The House of Rumour is a brilliant achievement that invites repeated readings... * James Kidd, Independent on Sunday * dazzling...Shifting character and prose style throughout, Arnott blurs the line between fact and fiction with daring expert precision. * Shortlist * I loved this book...Once the connections start to engage, it snaps into sharp focus and the structure of the whole comes plain...The artistry of it is stunning * Maya Panika * The world of intelligence, the world of creativity, the world of the occult - all these dance round each other flirtatiously...He has the capacity to make us care about humanity...Whatever he touches on feels right, whether he has made it up or looked it up; this is a supremely intelligent book as well as a surprisingly warm one. * Roz Kaveney, Independent * It may be the ideal holiday read for those who like to take their brains with them on vacation. * Mark Lawson, Guardian *

About this edition

• Publisher: Sceptre
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0340922729
• ISBN 13: 9780340922729
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 408