The Music of Razors

At the start of Australian author Rogers's inventive but disappointing debut, Walter, a four-year-old boy with sudden intimations of mortality, makes the mistake of banishing from his closet a monster who was actually his protector. This leaves him prey to the depredations of Henry, a former rogue medical student now aged over 150, whom we first meet in an unconvincing Boston of 1840, rife with such anachronisms as gaslights and doctors aware of bacteria. Henry is part of a circle of decadents who have conjured up a demon (the conjuring scene makes for one of the novel's especially vivid moments) but bungled their demonic deal. In a parallel world, Walter merges with the spirit of his protective monster, determined to protect his younger sister, Hope—Henry's next target. Rogers aims for a Neil Gaiman–style plot about evil versus spirituality, but lacks Gaiman's grace or charm. (May)