LEECH

About the book

About LEECH

THE 1800s: John Thomas Reginald Leech, a man of medicine, is driven to murder and mayhem in his quest for respect as a stalwart of medical standing in his day, but only finds ridicule and scorn. Many of his critics meet brutal ends, and his name becomes entangled in discussions alongside London’s most notorious serial killer of that time. But then John Leech dies in a raging fire, or so the world believes. MODERN-DAY NEW YORK: Now, more than a century later, the soul of John Thomas Reginald Leech awakens, still determined to secure his place in history. He finds Arianne Smith, a struggling writer desperate for recognition, and promises her fame in the writing of his story. Unaware of what it entails, she finds herself possessed by Leech even as she becomes famous and wealthy. But Arianne fights to defeat him by committing herself to an institution in the desperate hope of conquering and escaping Leech. There, she reveals to Dr Oscar Pressum that she has been the victim of the very subject of her controversial novel: the long-dead John Leech. Does the doctor believe her? Can he succeed in curing the perceived mental instability of the famous young author under his care, even as the spirit of Leech grows stronger—leading to a final confrontation that threatens Arianne’s very soul? LEECH is a story of obsession and the lengths to which some will go to be remembered. It asks one chilling question: What if the story that defines you isn’t yours at all?

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