'[W]hen I found Rice's work I absolutely loved how she took that genre and (...) made [it] feel so contemporary and relevant' Sarah Pinborough, bestselling author of Behind Her Eyes

'[Rice wrote] in the great tradition of the gothic' Ramsey Campbell, bestselling author of The Hungry Moon

In Israel, in the turbulent first century, a baby is born to a humble Jewish family - but to a great destiny. His is an uneasy childhood, as he begins to come to terms with his extraordinary powers, and the whispered mysteries surrounding his birth.

The tyrannical rule of King Herod has driven the family from the Holy Land to the relative safety of cosmopolitan Alexandria. But on Herod's death, they decide to return home to Israel, to Galilee, a troubled land under Roman occupation, at a time of chaos and turmoil, insurrection and confusion...