In Darkness

Half of Nick Lake's absorbing debut gives us a 'Now' of zombie rituals, gang warfare and ruthless-yet-philanthropic hoodlums. Trapped beneath an earthquake-flattened Haitian hospital, Shorty, a swaggering 15 year-old gang member, begins to have visions of Toussaint l'Ouverture, the slave who led 18th century Haiti to independence. Toussaint's 'Then' sections, relating his revolution, alternate with Shorty's tale of a missing twin, voodoo magic and a life of violence.

Shorty's voice is terrific: urgent, immediate and believable (albeit with the odd out-of-place word). Anyone who enjoyed getting to know Pigeon English's narrator Harri will find much to appreciate here. The more formal third-person, past-tense history of Toussaint, can seem a little pale by comparison, and Lake occasionally overemphasises parallels between his protagonists. But the amplification each narrator offers the book's themes - inequality, shades-of-grey morality, the power of ideas - more than justifies its structure.

'An evil idea makes bad men of everyone who believes in it,' muses Toussaint.

In Darkness charts the outcomes of inequity - how an overpowering desire for vengeance or justice can hollow a person out, and how bad things are done in pursuit of a greater good. As a debut, inevitably there is unevenness, but it paints an enthralling picture of the Haiti slums. An exciting and engaging read.