The recession that grips the world has left it exhausted. Crime is rising in every major city. Financial institutions across the world have collapsed, and most governments are now in debt to The Bank, a company created by the world's wealthiest men. But Detective Inspector Cass Jones has enough on his plate without worrying about the world at large. His marriage is crumbling, he's haunted by the deeds of his past, and he's got the high-profile shooting of two schoolboys to solve - not to mention tracking down a serial killer who calls himself the Man of Flies. Then Cass Jones' personal world is thrown into disarray when his brother shoots his own wife and child before committing suicide - leaving Cass implicated in their deaths. And when he starts seeing silent visions of his dead brother, it's time for the suspended DI to go on the hunt himself - only to discover that all three cases are linked ...As Jones is forced to examine his own family history, three questions keep reappearing: what disturbed his brother so badly in his final few weeks? Who are the shadowy people behind The Bank? And, most importantly, what do they want with DI Cass Jones?

The author of the “diabolically clever”\* A Matter of Blood returns with another gritty supernatural thriller featuring hard-boiled homicide detective Cass Jones… A devastating terrorist attack has crippled London. To find a perpetrator who is more than human, Special Branch turns to Detective Inspector Cass Jones. Cass is already investigating a series of student suicides, but saying no to Special Branch isn’t an option—even when he’s hit with a much more personal and deeply disturbing mystery: a message left for him by his murdered brother revealing that Cass’s nephew was stolen at birth. Cass’s investigations and his search for the boy lead him down a dark labyrinth to the shadowy Mr. Bright and his otherworldly allies—and into the middle of an ancient and deadly feud, with no less than the fate of humanity hanging in the balance… \*F. Paul Wilson

His nephew has been kidnapped and, as he works desperately to save Luke, Detective Inspector Cass Jones has been framed for murder. He's on the run, being hunted by former colleagues, and is unwelcome wherever he goes . . . until he gets help from a very unexpected figure from his past. Detectives Hask and Ramsey are on a different case - searching for the killer behind the lethal Strain II virus currently sweeping its way through London . . . a search which throws up an unexpected clue that suggests Cass might be innocent of murder after all. But when they're ordered not to investigate further, they realise the mystery behind the murder is far greater than they thought. Somehow it's linked to Mr Bright, and to the Network which manipulates everyone from the shadows. A rift is growing between these rival factions as Strain II takes a firmer hold on the city, and as the Interventionists warn of a final battle which will bring them all together - or, once and for all, tear everything apart. Cass Jones is going up against The Bank and its sinister employees one last time. He needs every ally he can get, and this time he means to find answers - even if he has to uncover the true history of humanity to do it. And the more he learns, the more everything hinges on finding Luke.