The Devil in Amber

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The Devil in Amber (2006) is the second novel of Mark Gatiss to feature bisexual secret agent and detective Lucifer Box. The title derives from the amber shirts of Box's fascist opponents in this book, as well as satanism as a plot element.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

[edit] Synopsis

It is twenty years after the events of the first Lucifer Box novel, The Vesuvius Club. During the interim period, Box has aged well, but lost his valet (and lover) Charlie Jackpot in undisclosed events related to First World War espionage in 1917. Unfortunately, though, his artistic career has not prospered similarly.

Here, he is visiting New York in the late twenties, when he encounters an Anglo-American fascist fraternity, FAUST (the Fellowship of Anglo-United States Trust), and its sinister leader, Olympus Mons, as well as his estranged sister, Pandora Box, long devoted to fringe 'alternative' New Age causes, and now a fascist convert. After a FAUST defector, Sal Volatile, is murdered, Lucifer is framed for the murder, and has to flee back to England. He enlists the aid of Rex, a gay bellhop, who he has sexually initiated several days beforehand.

Onboard a vessel used for the purpose of escape, he meets Agnes Day, a young woman who turns out to be connected to a gnostic or satanist conspiracy - her name is actually "Agnus Dei" or the Lamb of God, and she was raised by a convent of kindly nuns in Norfolk. Agnes and Lucifer fall for one another, but Olympus Mons also wants to use Agnes as a human sacrifice to summon a demonic entity to facilitate his plans for world domination.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Mark Gatiss: The Devil in Amber: London: Simon and Schuster: 2006: ISBN 074325709X