Jon Courtenay Grimwood – författare

Venice, 1407. The city is at the height of its powers. In theory, Duke Marco commands, but Marco is a simpleton so his aunt and uncle rule in his stead. They seem all powerful, yet live in fear of assassins better than their own.On the night their world changes, Marco''s young cousin prays in the family chapel for deliverance from a forced marriage. It is her misfortune to be alone when Mamluk pirates break in to abduct her - an act that will ultimately trigger war.Elsewhere Atilo, the Duke''s chief assassin, cuts a man''s throat. Hearing a noise, he turns back to find a boy drinking from the victim''s wound. The speed with which the angel-faced boy dodges his dagger and scales a wall stuns Atilo. He knows then he must hunt him. Not to kill him, but because he''s finally found what he thought was impossible - someone fit to be his apprentice.Award-winning author Jon Courtenay Grimwood is a master storyteller. Here, he blends history, politics and dark fantasy in a compelling vision of an alternative Venice.

As the Byzantine and German emperors plot war against each other, Venice''s future rests in the hands of three unwilling people:The newly knighted Sir Tycho. An ex-slave and trained assassin who defeated the Mamluk navy but cannot make the woman he loves love him back. Tortured by secrets, afraid of the daylight, he sees no reason to save a city he hates.The grieving Lady Giulietta. Impossibly rich, deeply spoilt. A virgin, a mother, a widow . . . Both emperors want her hand for their sons in marriage. All she wants is to retire from the poisonous world of the Venetian court to mourn her husband in peace.And finally a naked, mud-strewn girl who crawls from a pauper''s grave on an island in the Venetian lagoon and begins by killing the men who buried her.

Snow shrouds Venice in cold darkness, ice fills the canals and a thousand ghosts pluck at the shadow''s edge.A violent attack on Lady Giulietta''s son forces Tycho from his new-found happiness and back into the treacherous intrigue of the court. For Giulietta''s sake he would go to the world''s end to track down those responsible.As Venice teeters on the brink of civil war, its warring families prepare to discover who is a player and who is a pawn in the coming struggle for power.