A novel of intrigue, violence and conflicted loyalties from the author of The Street Philosopher. What price to take hold of the devile(tm)s right hand? Spring, 1853. After a triumphant display at the Great Exhibition in London, the legendary American entrepreneur and inventor Colonel Samuel Colt expands his gun-making business into England. He acquires a riverside warehouse in Pimlico and sets about converting it into a pistol works capable of mass producing his patented revolvers on an unprecedented scale e" aware that the prospect of war with Russia means huge profits. The young, ambitious Edward Lowry is hired by Colt to act as his London secretary. Although initially impressed by the Colonele(tm)s dynamic approach to his trade, Edward comes to suspect that the Americane(tm)s intentions in the Metropolis are not all they appear. Meanwhile, the secretary becomes romantically involved with Caroline Knox, a headstrong woman from the machine floor e" who he discovers is caught up in a plot to steal revolvers from the factorye(tm)s stores. Among the workforce Colt has gathered from the seething mass of Londone(tm)s poor are a gang of desperate Irish immigrants, embittered refugees from the potato famine, who intend to use these stolen six-shooters for a political assassination in the name of revenge.

As pistols start to go missing, divided loyalties and hidden agendas make the gun-makere(tm)s factory the setting for a tense story of intrigue, betrayal and murder. e Matthew Plampine(tm)s first novel, The Street Philosopher, was selected for 2009e(tm)s Waterstonee(tm)s New Voices promotion e A remarkable novel with powerful characters, a compelling plot and meticulously researched historical detail e The Devile(tm)s Acre will appeal to readers who loved Jed Rubenfeld's The Interpretation of Murder, and Carlos Ruiz Zafon's Shadow of the Wind Competition: Sebastian Faulks, Winter in Madrid, Jed Rubenfeld, Jesse Kellerman.