It is the 20th century. But it is a very different 20th century. Ever since the Borgias and the Medicis united and set the mold the world has been run by the great families. In Britain it is the Gleeds who rule supreme, their empire built on spice trading in the 17th and 18th centuries. Their rule is supreme but their rule relies on an heir and the family's oldest son, Provender, shows no sign of wanting to settle down and get married. And then, at the yearly Gleed party, Provender is kidnapped. His father, Prosper, suspects the greatest of the German families, a baroque collection of poseurs who claim to be vampires. It is only the latest in a long line of outrages. Enough is enough. Prosper pulls the strings of family loyalty and Europe is tipped into a second war. Meanwhile the man who has kidnapped Provender, inspired by a revolutionary anti-family tract, is about to find out an uncomfortable truth about his master. And about the author of the revolution.

Author Biography

James Lovegrove was born on Christmas Eve 1965. He has been identified as one of the most talented of the current crop of British genre writers by numerous critics. His novel Days was shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He is married and has a son.