All hell breaks loose as Ian Rankin takes on Alan Moore anti-hero John Constantine

Trouble is, the house seems to have taken on a life of its own, and the housemates are being tormented by visions from their troubled past.

Award-winner Rankin sticks a barbed knife into the underbelly of cheap entertainment as Constantine is introduced as a 'surprise' contestant so that he can figure out what's really going on.

But, of course, there's more to it than meets the eye.

Is Constantine himself being played? And what single tragic event links the housemates, even if they cannot remember why they signed up?

Split into two halves on white and black bordered pages, Dark Entries begins as a Rankin detective mystery and ends as a nightmarish vision where all hell, quite literally, breaks loose.

Constantine has, over the years, appeared in many settings since his Swamp Thing comicbook debut in June 1985.

Apart from his Hellblazer career, he's guested in Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.

Sharp-eyed fans spotted him at the funeral of Hal Jordan, drinking with Doom Patrol's Mento, chatting with the Batman, and attending the opening of Guy Gardner's Green Lantern theme bar.

But this is a gritty return to what passes as realism in Constantine's life.

Rankin has penned another dark entry on the demon detective's CV.

* Ian Rankin will be doing a book signing at Waterstones Birmingham on Wednesday lunchtime, September 9.

It's for his latest crime thriller The Complaints, but grab a copy of Dark Entries and get it signed, too.

Already published in the States and available online, the UK hardcover publication date for the graphic novel is October 2.