About this ebook
Ringed by an immense wall, the gothic city of Obellium has been ostracised by its neighbours. Here, those with money prosper, living in security and comfort. Those without, are relegated to the smog drenched working districts, dying by the score via poverty and illness. For the homeless children like Frederick, life is a free-for-all. Living in an alleyway with other youngsters, all are fearful of the Gaslight Terror, a serial killer of urban legend who stalks the city without prejudice. To earn enough to eat, Frederick resorts to shining shoes outside a nearby train station. In an insurmountable act of kindness, the young boy is gifted a toy teddy bear by one of his customers.
Returning to what he calls home that night, the toy transforms into an indescribable horror and it’s only the intervention of the Gaslight Terror himself that ensures that Frederick remains in the land of the living. With blunderbuss in hand, the stranger, Samuel, reveals that the creature is a Mimic – a beast that can adopt the form of any object and he has been hunting them. Considerably shaken, Frederick can do nothing else but obsess over the revelation he’s witnessed. With his friend murdered by one of these creatures, Frederick follows Samuel to his hideout, an apothecary shop ran by his wife, to demand answers. With the alarming disclosure that the creature was gifted, Samuel strikes a deal with the youngster, taking him on as his apprentice to rid the city of Mimics for good.
With a rash of high profile murders rocking the cities aristocrats, the pair must unravel their connection to the Mimics and uncover a conspiracy that is slowly bringing the city closer to destruction. But those responsible have noticed, and such grand designs are not so easily swayed from their path...
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About the author
Christopher Byford was born in 1980 in Wellingborough, England. He learnt to walk whilst holding onto a Golden Retriever and fondly remembers the days of BMX bikes and conker matches. He left college to suffer as an IT Manager for a small multinational before, in his words, escaping to Gloucester. After working for some large tech companies he seized the opportunity to become a full time author. It was the best thing he has ever done.
In the last few years Chris has penned various tales, Den of Shadows being his most prominent. The series itself was picked up by HQ Digital, an imprint of HarperCollins, for publishing. It became an Amazon bestseller. He runs Unusual Type, an digital imprint of titles that skew convention, including The Death In All Things and The Bone Caravan.
Away from literary things, his interests include all things VW Campervans, gardening, photography, astronomy and chicken keeping.
He finds talking about himself in the third person rather pedantic and could murder a cold pint of cider right about now.
