One of the most powerful literary portraits of evil In eighteenth-century Edinburgh a devout young Calvinist, Robert Wringhim, meets an unearthly stranger who tells him that the elect are not bound by any moral law. Dogged at every turn by his dreaded friend, Wringhim is set on a path leading to murder and self-destruction. Is the evil stranger Satan or the figment of the young mans disintegrating mind? Hoggs tale anticipates the bleak universe of todays serial killers as it moves towards a macabre climax where the facts of Wringhims tormented life and death are unearthed. The most comprehensive paperback edition available, with introduction, notes, selected criticism, text summary and chronology of Hoggs life and times