An unnamed narrator arrives at Cambridge University in the early aughts determined to reinvent himself. His northern accent marks him as an outsider, but thanks to his musical gifts, he manages to fall in with his wealthy classmate Bryn Cavendish.
A charismatic party host and talented magician, Bryn enthralls the narrator. But something seems to happen to those who challenge or simply irk Bryn--and they aren't ever the same again. The narrator begins to suspect that Bryn may be concealing terrifying gifts under the guise of magic tricks. As the tension between them grows, a harrowing encounter is followed by Bryn's death.
Alternating between their time as students and the narrator's return to Cambridge years later--where he fears the ghosts of his past are waiting for him--this propulsive novel about the dark power of privilege performs an astounding sleight-of-hand that throws every version of the story into question.