"A frightening, funny, moving, page-turning romp." -- Steven Galloway, author of The Cellist of Sarajevo

"Weir's unique retelling of the Gospels, set in mid-19th-century London, is Charles Dickens meets Thom Jones A knockout debut." -- National Post

Set in the 1850s in London, England, Daniel O'Thunder interweaves the voices of several narrators to tell the story of a troubled but charismatic prize-fighting evangelist who challenges none other than the Devil to a battle in the ring.

A former pugilist with a right fist known as "The Hammer of Heaven," O'Thunder disappeared for years before resurfacing as a crusading street preacher. He pursues a life in Christ, serving those in need, whether they be poor, homeless or in need of guidance. But on London's dark streets, an evil presence is wreaking havoc and throwing into peril the lives of O'Thunder's most vulnerable souls.

The novel inhabits the world of the theatre, the criminal underworld and the world of bare-knuckle prizefighting, then shifts to the wild west of North America, where O'Thunder meets his ultimate opponent in the desert of the B.C. Interior.