The King's Evil
2nd Edition
Published on 19. January 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
180 pages
978-1-0682097-0-3 (ISBN)
Description
From a young age, Joseph Malderoyce is drawn to painting-until he encounters Mondrian's work and, convinced he can never equal such mastery, abandons art entirely for a career in law. Years later, after inheriting a fortune, he retreats to a lonely house in the far north. There, his quiet existence is disrupted when he finds a battered child asleep on his porch. Abel, abandoned and vulnerable, quickly becomes Joseph's ward and closest companion. But as their bond deepens, the boy's cunning intelligence takes a disturbing turn, forcing Joseph to confront the menace he has unwittingly harboured under his own roof.
A masterfully haunting exploration of the dark recesses of human connection, The King's Evil unfolds its quiet unease not just between characters, but within the reader.
A masterfully haunting exploration of the dark recesses of human connection, The King's Evil unfolds its quiet unease not just between characters, but within the reader.
Reviews / Votes
"Will Heinrich has written a dark fable about the boundaries of humanity. Set in a world not quite our own. The King's Evil is an uncompromising story of two characters locked in a life-and-death struggle over the everyday minutiae of existence. Heinrich deftly examines the roots of power, evil, and love-the things that make us human, the things that separate us from inhumanity."-Adrian McKinty
"A thriller, a fairy tale, a love story, a treatise on art and disease-this small book, somehow, becomes all of these. This is a book you will pick up and read through the night like you did as a child."
-Andrew Sean Greer
"The King's Evil is a remarkable fable of maleficence, a kind of Brothers Grimm version of The Exorcist in which a guy gets in touch with his inner child at considerable risk."
-LA Times
"Shiver, reader. Shake."
-Kirkus Reviews
More details
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
Paperback (UK-B)
Dimensions
Height: 196 mm
Width: 128 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
164 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-0682097-0-3 (9781068209703)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
WILL HEINRICH was born in New York and spent his early childhood in Japan. He writes about visual art for the New York Times and other titles. His debut novel The King's Evil won a PEN/Robert Bingham Fellowship in 2004. He has a BA in Japanese from Columbia and an MFA from Bard College.