The Devil's Paintbrush: Jake Arnott
TRUTH is stranger than fiction as author Jake Arnott knows all too well.
Real life events have proved fertile ground as he has drawn on several colourful characters as inspiration.
Among those to have captured Arnott’s imagination are the Kray twins, cop killer Harry Roberts and paedophile glam rocker Gary Glitter.
Now he has turned his attention to a more obscure individual. The Devil’s Paintbrush tells the tale of Sir Hector MacDonald, a distinguished officer in the British Army whose career ended in tatters over a homosexual scandal.
Known as “Fighting Mac”, MacDonald rose to become one of the greatest heroes of the Empire. From humble beginnings in Scotland he served abroad in Afghanistan, South Africa, Sudan, Ceylon and elsewhere.
But when the reader first meets him the only thing Mac is fighting for is his reputation. It is March 1903 and he is dining alone in the Hotel Regina in Paris.
As he sits quietly contemplating his future MacDonald is approached by a man who recognises him and offers to help. This dubious character is Aleister Crowley, the notorious occultist and self-styled “Great Beast” and while there is evidence that the pair met in real life this is where fact and fiction diverge.
Crowley has his own dark reasons for being in Paris. Nevertheless, he is fascinated by the rumours that surround the fallen general and takes him on a wild journey around the city.
As night falls the pair visit Crowley’s former master as he battles for possession of a sacred manuscript.
They drop in at an infamous dining club and a black mass. Crowley’s offer of help involves introducing MacDonald to the dark arts. To this end, Crowley plies the soldier with drugs that trigger a series of visions.
The hallucinations subsequently transport the reader on a journey back through MacDonald’s past, revealing the extent of the scandal.
Arnott’s previous novels have undoubtedly proved his credentials as a slick and stylised novelist though previously his focus has been London during the Sixties, so The Devil’s Paintbrush is something of a departure and Arnott lets his imagination run wild.
But the tale of a decorated soldier who falls from grace is a tragic one and the bizarre brush with the occult only detracts from that.
By Jake Arnott
Sceptre, £15
