Darkest Hand Trilogy

In the bustling streets of Sarajevo in June 1914, the dead body of a priest lies, head shattered by the impact of a fall from a building high above. As the city prepares for the arrival Archduke Franz Ferdinand, grim-faced inquisitor Tacit Poldek is faced not only with the challenge of discovering why the priest has been killed but also confronting other menaces: the demon rumored to be at large in the city and the conspirators of the Black Hand organization who plan to assassinate the Archduke. With terrible danger only ever one-step away and his private demons silenced only by strong drink, The Hunted introduces us to the damaged soul that is the unorthodox Catholic inquisitor Tacit Poldek. It is a world both like and unlike our own but in which the Inquisition, is alive and well yet existing in the shadows; in which history is poised to take dangerous and unpredictable paths; where evil assumes many horrific forms, from werewolves to the institutional slaughter of the trenches; and the threat to humanity (in all senses of the word) - and to love - is ever constant.

In this work set during WWI, werewolves roam the trenches and the Catholic Inquisition continues its grim work in the shadows. When a priest is brutally murdered in the French city of Arras, Poldek Tacit-a brutally efficient Inquisitor-arrives on the scene to investigate the crime. His mission: to protect the Church from those who would seek to destroy it, no matter what the cost. As Tacit strives in vain to investigate the murder, he must also uncover the reason why other Vatican servants seek to undermine him. Meanwhile, a beautiful and spirited woman, Sandrine Prideux, warns British Lt. Henry Frost of a mutual foe lurking beneath the killing fields-an enemy that wreaks its havoc by the light of the moon. Faced with impossible odds and struggling with his own demons, Tacit must battle the forces of evil-and a church determined to achieve its aims at any costs-to root out a dark conspiracy that seeks to plunge the world into even deeper into conflict.

1914. The Outbreak of War In the French City of Arras, Father Andreas is brutally murdered and the Catholic Inquisition sends its most determined and unhinged inquisitor to investigate. Poldek Tacit's mission is to protect the Church from those who seek to undermine it. At any cost. As Tacit arrives, British and German soldiers confront each other across the horror that is No Man's Land and a beautiful French woman warns Lieutenant Henry Frost that there is a dark and unnatural foe lurking underground more awful than even Tacit can comprehend.

As WWI rages on, a satanic conspiracy threatens to overtake the Vatican-and the world-in this dark historical fantasy series of werewolves and Inquisitors. Before his murder, a desperate priest sends a secret letter to his brother serving in the Italian Army. Now this young soldier carries with him a letter that reveals why terrible satanic rituals are being committed in the heart of the Vatican―and by whom. Drawn into this conspiracy and hunted by agents of The Darkest Hand, old rivals must unite to discover the contents of the letter before it's too late. Only the Inquisitor Poldek Tacit can combat the forces of evil and unite those for good. But after spending time in prison as a scapegoat for the crimes of others, Tacit is more feared-and less trusted-than ever.

1915. Demonic possessions are sweeping across Rome. War is raging on the Italian Austro-Hungarian border and bodies are piling up in the streets. But it isn't the ravages of war that is causing such mass destruction, something evil and unnatural force is roaming the land and the Vatican's Eagle Fountain is running red with blood. Only Poldek Tacit, the church's brilliant but flawed Inquisitor can hope to hold back the malevolent power, but as he immerses himself in this dangerous investigation he discovers that the path he is treading has already been prophesied and that where it is leading is threatening the very future of a world already teetering on the brink of the abyss.

1917. The Apocalypse is imminent. It is three years since our first introduction to the brilliant but flawed Catholic church Inquisitor Poldek Tacit, and the world has never needed him more. War, revolution and a relentless tide of inhuman terror is consuming the earth but where is Tacit? As old allies unite in a frantic race to unmask the Antichrist and thwart his plan to bring everything into his power, the Darkest Hand continues to terrorise the innocent while in the Vatican's vaults, long-buried secrets are about to be unveiled, and humanity's chance of escape from the forces of evil hangs by a single thread.