From the chaos of King Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Monasteries rises a secret order. Formed to protect the world of the living from the world of the dead, The Brotherhood of Shades keeps a watchful eye on the passage of the dead under the guard of the enigmatic head of Section One - Toby D'Scover.

The Brotherhood is not a simple religious monastic order; its members are all ghosts - Shades who remain trapped between life and the hereafter because they died alone and were not mourned.

Adam, a streetwise homeless boy in modern London, knows nothing of the fantastic and precarious world that exists just beyond his reality until he dies cold and alone on the streets of London, aged 14. But he is important and the Brotherhood needs him. His recruitment to their Order takes him on an adventure that spans the worlds of both the living and the dead, traversing time itself as he and a living girl (14 year old witch Edie Freedom) battle to solve a prophetic riddle and save the world. This thrilling and macabre fantasy is set in London, from Tudor times through the Great Fire of London and up to today. The story is filled with familiar landmarks and arcane objects, all of which exist in reality.

"A fascinating, intricate mythology of real depth and pathos, and an eerie adventure that builds, step by sinister step, to a thrilling, heart-stopping climax. A wonderful new fantasy." Jonathan Stroud