The Night Climbers

Ivo Stourton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0552773832 ISBN 13: 9780552773836

Publisher: Black Swan, 2008

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.

Review:

'Tightly sprung and compulsively readable.'

From the Publisher:

Reminiscent of Donna Tartt, a circle of faux aristos at Cambridge form a private club - The Night Climbers - and sell on a fake Picasso to an Eastend gangster