The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and
heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the
iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon
Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal
supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a
handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings:
Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, "the last real ghul hunter in the great city
of Dhamsawaat," just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more
years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and
is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation.
But when an old flame's family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the
hunter's path.
Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla's young assistant, is a hidebound holy
warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety. But even as Raseed's
sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and
Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.
Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the
near-mythical power of the lion-shape, but shunned by her people for
daring to take up a man's title. She lives only to avenge her father's
death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her
father's killer. Until she meets Raseed.
When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince's brewing
revolution are connected, the companions must race against time -- and
struggle against their own misgivings -- to save the life of a vicious
despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent
Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a
blood-soaked ruin.
