When Benedict left home, it was maybe the first time he'd stood up to
his family. It was also meant to be the last. "No contact," he said.
"I'm disinvesting."
In all honesty, they weren't sorry to see him go. Ben had never had
their talent, never had the family spark. When you run a
city--especially the way the Macallans ran theirs--the last thing you
need is a reluctant passenger.
But suddenly Ben's learning a lot, far more than his university course
could ever teach him. And as his family starts to die one by
one--vicious, gruesome, horrible deaths--the chief lesson is that you
can't turn your back on blood. There's someone in the city with as much
talent as the Macallans, and Ben's connected after all. It's there in
his body, it's in his veins; and be it thick or thin, be it still
pumping or leaking out, blood is very much darker than water....