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Zusatztext “Gripping! fast-paced! emotionally intense…[a] deft combination of urban fantasy adventure! sharp-edged sarcasm! and treachery upon treachery.” – Publishers Weekly “So entertaining it’s almost a guilty pleasure...[A] blend of action! science fiction! fantasy! and pulp weirdness…a grand saga.” – SFRevu Informationen zum Autor Simon R. Green is a New York Times bestselling author whose works include the Secret Histories Novels, the Novels of the Nightside, the Ghost Finders series, Drinking Midnight Wine, Beyond the Blue Moon, Blue Moon Rising, The Adventures of Hawk & Fisher , and the Deathstalker series. He lives in England. Klappentext The Matriarch of the Droods has been murdered and the general consensus is that the killer was either Eddie Drood or his best girl! Molly. And Eddie knows for a fact he didn't do it. Leseprobe PREVIOUSLY IN THE SECRET HISTORIES . . . The name’s Bond. Shaman Bond. You can mention that name anywhere in the darker parts of London, and someone will smile ruefully, or nod knowingly. Shaman Bond is a well-known face—always turning up when things get dangerous or a little bit weird; always ready for action, intrigue and a little illegal fun. Always there on the edges, where the games get strange and the night people dance to their own peculiar piper. Everyone at work or at play in society’s shadows knows Shaman Bond. Except, they don’t. I’m Eddie Drood, and Shaman Bond is just my use name—a mask for me to wear in public, to hide who and what I really am. I’m a field agent for the ancient and mighty Drood family. We stand between Humanity and all the dark forces that threaten. We defend you from aliens and elves, mad scientists and their monsters, secret organisations and ancient inhuman enemies. Ever since my Druid ancestors first made contact with an other-dimensional entity called the Heart, who made them the protectors of Humanity by granting them incredible golden armour. It was only very recently that I discovered the awful price my family paid for that armour, and was still paying, centuries later. I destroyed the Heart, to save my family’s soul. Now we have new armour, provided by a new other-dimensional entity. Called Ethel. I really don’t want to talk about that. I saved the family from itself, and for my sins they put me in charge, but I was never happy with that much responsibility. First chance I got I dumped it all on someone else, and went back to being just a field agent again. One of the best, if I do say so myself. But—the Man from U.N.C.L.E. had to contend with agents of THRUSH. James Bond had SPECTRE. So it really shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to me, that a family as ancient and powerful as mine might have its own very dark shadow . . . CHAPTER ONE The Return of Doctor Delirium In the secret agent business, no one is necessarily who or what they say they are. It comes with the job, and the territory. Agents in the field collect names and identities the way normal people collect credit cards; and just like you, we all have to pay the cost when the bill comes due. Use names are common, if only to help us avoid the consequences of our actions. I’m Shaman Bond as often as I’m Eddie Drood. In fact, a lot of the time I think I prefer being Shaman; he doesn’t have the duties and responsibilities of being a Drood. And it’s not just us poor bastards risking our lives out in the field—no organisation is ever what it appears to be, when seen from the outside. They all have levels within levels, inner circles and hidden agendas, and the left hand is never allowed to know who the right hand is killing. Like the onion, there are layers within layers within layers, and sometimes, just like the onion, we have no heart. The Droods are a family, as well as an organisation. Anything for the...
