The Night Climbers

By Ivo Stourton

Subjects: Fiction, Children of the rich, Art, Fiction, thrillers, suspense, Fiction, suspense, College students, Cambridge (mass.), fiction, Literature, Friendship, fiction, New York Times reviewed, Upper class, Forgeries

Description: Reminiscent of Donna Tartt, a circle of friends at Cambridge form a private club that scales the university colleges by night, until one day they take their daredevil activities one step too far . . .James, a first-year student at Cambridge, is overwhelmed by the thrill of opportunity and startled by his own hunger for friendship. He finds himself seduced by a covert and exclusive circle of friends - the 'Tudor Night Climbers' - who scale the university's turrets after dark, transforming it into a dangerous playground of spiralling heights. When still only a novice member of his tribe, James begins to fall for the only female in the group, the enigmatic and beautiful Jessica, and is soon at the heart of a fatal love triangle with the reckless and charismatic leader of the group, Francis. When a volatile relationship finally explodes, the Night Climbers' funding suddenly dries up, until Francis dreams up a heist that will secure them millions, but will also test their very souls. Partly inspired by the original 'Night Climbers' of the Sixties who famously made dare-devil leaps from college roofs, this passionate exploration of youth at its most vital and unstable marks the debut of a strikingly gifted new writer.