The Medievalist - Softcover

Angsten, David

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798309595082

Publisher: Independently published, 2025

Synopsis

Carmelite friar Roland Grimky works incognito as an LA Uber driver, but when a young actress down the hall disappears, and a sexual scandal from his past resurfaces, the LAPD suspects he’s the “Showrunner”—the serial killer terrorizing Hollywood. Drawn into a web of conspiracy and corruption, the scholarly monk, steeped in the psyche of the Middle Ages, applies his medieval understanding of evil to try to find the killer without succumbing to the Devil.

REVIEWS:

“Angsten has skillfully forged medieval sensibility, modern nihilism, and non-stop fireworks into a dagger aimed straight at the reader’s heart. With a unique hero and a keen, lean story of serial murder in Tinseltown, this is a book you’ll find hard to put down, and impossible to forget after the last page is turned. A tour de force for thriller fans!”
~David Dubrow, author of The Blessed Man and the Witch and the Armageddon series

“A truly sui generis Trojan Horse of a novel, polished to a sheen, an object of seduction that hypnotizes as a high stakes mystery thriller with its relentless pacing and utterly unique characters — before it reveals the profound conflict at its core: the struggle and torment that true faith requires. A brilliant, unforgettable work...”
~Roy Freirich, screenwriter and author of Winged Creatures and Deprivation

"A Hollywood thriller worthy of Dante, if it were written by Victor Hugo and illustrated by Belbello da Pavia, with film noir settings and a fairy tale cast. Illuminating as only the best allegory can be."
~Rachel Fulton Brown, Associate Professor of History, The University of Chicago, author of From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800-1200, and founder of the Dragon Common Room for Christian poetry

“Contrary to the suggestion of the title, it does not take place anywhere near medieval times but rather in present-day Hollywood — and what a sizzling depiction it is. In fact, any novel that announces its intentions by drawing a dizzying parallel between a Raymond Chandler quote and a Pauline scripture from Ephesians and chases it with some of the most delicious movie references this side of Tarantino is just screaming to be read (at night, by dim light). The titular scholar is actually a Carmelite friar who moonlights as a rideshare driver only to find himself dragged into a seedy web of L.A. intrigue that reads like Jim Thompson and James Ellroy’s love child. Angsten, best known for “The Night-Sea Trilogy,” has a ravishing time toying with expectations and flipping genre conventions. Is it “The Maltese Falcon” meets “The DaVinci Code”? Or is it “Chinatown” crossed with “The Silence of the Lambs”? Or is it none of those things and something altogether original that defies comparisons? Whatever it is — it’s a thoroughly engaging, take-no-prisoners ride that reminds you how seductive good writing can be when it worms its way into your brain. Tying Phillip Marlowe to Christopher Marlowe in the same breath? Pinch me.”
~Wade Major, LAist FilmWeek regular, member of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) and the Critics Choice Association (CCA), veteran entertainment journalist, producer, screenwriter, published author and film historian.

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798309595082
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 324