ANDREW DAVIDSON was born in Pinawa, Manitoba, and graduated in 1995 from the University of British Columbia with a B.A. in English literature. He has worked as a teacher in Japan, where he has lived on and off, and as a writer of English lessons for Japanese Web sites. The Gargoyle, the product of seven years' worth of research and composition, is his first book. Davidson lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

"Spellbinding. . . . A page-turning adventure that will keep you reading well past bedtime." --The Boston Globe"An undeniably hot book. . . . It's as engrossing as it is gruesome, the kind of horror you watch with one eye closed. . . . A hell of a story." --The Washington Post"Take a deep breath and plunge into this novel. It's a tale of love and redemption told through Davidson's haunting prose. " --USA Today"A transportingly unhinged debut. . . . Vigorous and impressive." --The New York Times "Keeps the pages turning." --The Plain Dealer "Take a deep breath and plunge into this novel. It's a tale of love and redemption told through Davidson's haunting prose." --USA Today "Mr. Davidson skillfully assembles a centuries-old puzzle involving a series of fables of undying love. . . . The reader is kept guessing until the final pages." --The Wall Street Journal"Mixes medical drama with medieval religious lore to explore the boundaries of faith and forgiveness. . . . Compelling." --San Francisco Chronicle "Reads like the mad spawn of Anne Rice and Stephen King." --Providence Journal "Original and highly addictive. . . . Captivating. . . . An impressive, memorable debut." --The Denver Post "A story that sweeps us in with no protest. You want to be lost in its pages. . . . The real tragedy of this book is that it ends." --Daily News"Beguiling. . . . Mixing romance, classic allusion and reality, Davidson's debut is a bravura performance." --Marie Claire"I was blown away by Andrew Davidson's The Gargoyle. It reminded me of Life of Pi, with its unanswered (and unanswerable) contradictions. A hypnotic, horrifying, astonishing novel that manages, against all odds, to be redemptive." --Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants"The Gargoyle is purely and simply an amazement, a riot, a blast. It's hard to believe that this is Andrew Davidson's first novel: He barrels out of the chute with the narrative brio and confidence, not to mention the courage, of a seasoned master. This book plucks the reader off the ground and whirls her through the air until she shouts from sheer abandonment and joy. What a great, grand treat." --Peter Straub

Publisher: Anchor Books

Pub date: 2009-08-04

Length: 528 pages