In Oxford, a bestselling author revisits an old secret . . .

Why is bestselling author Tessa Wainwright visiting Oxford again after so many years abroad? Even Vince, her agent and factotum, is in the dark but Conrad Merrivale, a student doing vacation work at the hotel she’s staying at, unearths the reason.

Conrad, with his taste for hard drugs and Richard Wagner, decides to blackmail Tessa, setting in train a cat and mouse between him and Vince which eventually spirals into violence and death.

“An evocative descent into a world of blackmail, betrayal and murder.” -Guy Burt, author of After the Hole

A shadow of its former self, once powerful Brynth is now a realm destroyed by plague, famine, and monstrous beings. Every corner harbors danger, and a covert war threatens to engulf the land. Amidst this chaos, Aldous Weaver’s quiet life as a monk is shattered when dormant forbidden magic rises within him, leaving destruction in its wake.

Condemned to die, Aldous battles to control the ancient power within. Then a chance encounter with fellow prisoners—terrifying fugitive Kendrick the Cold and arrogant monster hunter Theron Ward—offers him a choice: flee for his life or stand with his newfound allies against a peril that endangers not just him but all citizens of Brynth, the very people who would see him hanged. But with dark sorcery and ancient evil devouring the land, can anyone survive?

In this tale of unlikely alliances, reluctant heroes, dark powers, and the pursuit of redemption, the fate of a fractured nation hangs in the balance.

For fans of Glen Cook, Steven Erikson, and Joe Abercrombie.