6 h 20 minAudiobook15 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if the man welcomed into the drawing room hides a life of deception and murder?
In A Servant of Satan, Louis Berard follows Prado, a criminal said to move among respectable people while concealing deceit and violence. A false name, an invented past and borrowed rank help him win trust. In a world where manners can pass for proof, charm becomes a tool for opening doors.
The story reaches across three continents, following lies, pursuit and the law that slowly closes in. Drawing rooms, clubs and fashionable resorts give Prado cover, while borders offer fresh strangers and distance from those seeking him. Berard presents a popular true crime account that carries the reader from the impostor’s deceptions toward the courtroom.
What you’ll discover
- A criminal in plain sight Meet Prado, an assassin presented as a man who knows how to appear respectable.
- The tools of deception Follow the false names and invented past that make other people’s trust so useful.
- Behind the drawing room door Enter a social world where reputation can count for more than proof.
- A pursuit across borders See how distance and gaps between police forces give a clever criminal room to move.
- The path toward court Follow a notorious criminal’s story as the law begins to close around him.
Who will love it
Readers who love true crime, travel across old empires, and the glittering society of the nineteenth century, and who enjoy a fast-moving life story full of disguises, daring escapes and narrow escapes from the law.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A charming count hands over a packet
- A secret marriage ruins a golden boy
- A father's love turns to rejection
- Betrayal teaches him to use women
- Baroda brings a second killing
- Rose returns and justice finds a mask
- From convict island to a Dutch officer
- Poison, a sea burial and Niagara
- The slide into ruin and the author's judgment
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- Audiobook
- 6 h 20 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
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- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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A Servant of Satan
by Louis Berard · 1889
A Prussian general's son flees a secret marriage and crosses three continents, leaving death in his wake.
Medium level5–10 hours to read25 languages
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In short
A Servant of Satan is the life story of a man who moved through the finest drawing rooms of Europe, Asia and America while leaving a trail of dead behind him. It is told by Louis Berard, a young man who befriends a charming nobleman called Comte Linska de Castillon in Madrid, and who later watches the same man stand trial in Paris under the name Prado.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A charming count hands over a packet
The book opens in Madrid in April 1880. Louis Berard has just watched the execution of a regicide named Francisco Otero when a runaway carriage smashes against a post in the Puerta del Sol. Its passenger is thrown almost at Berard's feet and breaks his ankle. Berard drives him home to a handsome suite on Calle del Barquillo, and the man gives him a card reading Comte Linska de Castillon.
Berard calls again and finds a gifted talker. The count describes tortures at the courts of Indian and Chinese princes, lynch law on the American frontier, and military executions of spies, all as if he had seen them. He speaks four languages without an accent, dresses with quiet taste, and has a smile that lights his whole face. For about two years the two men stay close, and the count is welcome in the best salons and at diplomatic receptions.
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What is A Servant of Satan about?
It tells the life of Frederick von Waldberg, a Prussian general's son who becomes a deserter, convict, soldier and society adventurer under many false names. His path runs through Naples, Paris, Cairo, India, New Caledonia, Java, Japan, North America, London and Madrid.
Who was Prado in this book?
Prado is the name under which the book's central figure was tried in Paris. In the narrative he is Count Frederick von Waldberg, who also uses names such as Baron Wolff, Frederick Gavard and Count Linska de Castillon.
Who is Louis Berard and how does he come to tell the story?
Berard is the young man who befriends the count in Madrid after a carriage accident. The count gives him a sealed packet of notes before his death, and Berard arranges them into one continuous account.
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