The Black Fox

A demon lurks at the heart of the Church in this classic fantasy of black magic set in Victorian England. Canon Throcton is a brilliant scholar, but the men of the Church can’t bring themselves to trust him. His devoted study of Hebrew and Arabic has drawn him far from their intellectual center, and his interest in the obscure writings of the Middle East verges on heresy. Canon knows his brothers in the cathedral don’t take him seriously, but he doesn’t care. A great and terrible power hides within him, and he’ll unleash it even if it destroys the Church, the town, and everyone he holds dear.   When a junior colleague is elevated above him, Canon reaches into his darkest volume of forbidden lore and tries his hand at black magic. It works better than he ever could have dreamed. His enemy is destroyed and Canon feels the tug of unimaginable power. He’s taken the first step along the road to damnation—and soon he’ll burn.  The Black Fox is English gothic at its best, a story of weird fiction steeped in author H. F. Heard’s unparalleled knowledge of world religion. Never before had black magic been written about with such deep understanding, and never since has it been more terrifying.

Anthony Boucher, The New York Times

“H. F. Heard is a writer as unclassifiable as he is entrancing.”

About the Author

Henry FitzGerald “Gerald” Heard (1889–1971) was an English philosopher, lecturer, and author. The BBC’s first science commentator, he pioneered the study of the evolution of consciousness, which he explored in his definitive philosophical work The Ascent of Humanity (1929). A prolific writer, Heard was also the author of a number of fiction titles, including mysteries and dystopian novels. He is best known for his beloved Mycroft Holmes mystery series.

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