The Heartbreaker - Softcover

On the verge of psychic and physical collapse, Gavin Blake, desperate to escape his world of prostitution, violence, and pornography, seeks refuge at St. Benet's, a local church in the financial heart of London, where he becomes involved with Carta Graham, a church fund-raiser still struggling with her own demons. Reader's Guide included. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

Deftly combining the sacred and the profane--the unmistakable hallmark of her fiction over the past decade--Susan Howatch gives us a spellbinding, suspenseful and psychologically intense new novel.
The financial heart of London--the City--is an adrenaline-charged square mile deep in recession in the 1990s, a place where sex is just another commodity to be bought and sold in the marketplace. And the City is where the life of Gavin Blake, who sells sex to high flyers, is finally about to unravel.
In the center of the City is St. Benet's, a church that ministers to the casualties of this affluent but amoral society. Carta Graham, the St. Benet's fundraiser, is at once attracted to Gavin when they meet through a mutual friend, but slowly she realizes that she has entered a relationship far more complex than she could ever have imagined.
Gavin is desperate to escape from his world of prostitution, pornography and violence, but as his involvement with Carta and St. Benet's deepens, the dangers that encircle him escalate until his life itself is on the line. Carta is determined to help him--but will their mysterious journey together be lifesaving or soul-destroying? All she can do is fight her hardest to help Gavin survive.
Consistently surprising and powerfully moving, "The Heartbreaker is Susan Howatch's most gripping novel yet.

"From the Hardcover edition.