Swords of Albion · #2
1593: the London of Elizabeth I is in the terrible grip of the Black
Death. As thousands die from the plague and the queen hides behind the
walls of her palace, English spies are being murdered across the city.
The killer’s next target: Will Swyfte.
For Swyfte, adventurer, rake, scholar and spy, this is the darkest time
he has known. His mentor, the grand old spymaster Sir Francis
Walsingham, is dead. The new head of the secret service is more
concerned about his own advancement than defending the nation, and a
rival faction at the court has established its own network of spies.
Plots are everywhere, and no one can be trusted. Meanwhile, England’s
greatest enemy, the haunted Unseelie Court, prepares to make its move.
A dark, bloody scheme, years in the making, is about to bear fruition.
The endgame begins on the night of the first performance of Dr Faustus,
the new play by Swyfte’s close friend and fellow spy, Christopher
Marlowe. A devil is conjured in the middle of the crowded theatre,
taking the form of Will Swyfte’s long-lost love, Jenny – and it has a
horrifying message for him alone.
That night Marlowe is murdered, and Swyfte embarks on a personal and
brutal crusade for vengeance. Friendless, with enemies on every side
and a devil at his back, the spy may find that even his vaunted skills
are no match for the supernatural power arrayed against him.
