Closer to the Devil

Closer to the DevilNew Orleans, 1883. Freddy King steps off a riverboat with a satchel full of winnings, a fresh scar on his hand, and a past he'd rather not discuss. He's a gambler, a liar, and a Union veteran with blood on his hands, and he has come to the wickedest city in America looking for a game. In a Gallatin Street saloon, he finds one. A stranger in a fine dark suit buys him a drink, calls him by a name he never gave, and asks him a simple question over absinthe: If you could have more time, what would you be willing to do for it? Freddy laughs and raises his glass. One year for one life. It sounds like a joke. By morning, the bullet wound in his back is gone, and so are two years of his age.What follows is a descent across three decades, from the gaslit alleys of the French Quarter to the sun-bleached docks of Key West. Freddy learns what each stolen year really costs, and the city whispers about a strangler no one can catch. Then he meets a woman who smells storms before they come and sees through every lie he tells, and for the first time Freddy has something to lose. But the man who bought him that drink has been watching for centuries, in every legend and every scripture, under a thousand names. And he has never once let a good game end. A Faustian tale of sin, love, and the price of eternity, Closer to the Devil asks a chilling question: when the Devil isn't the worst one at the table, who is?