Arthur Oakes is an outsider. His mother was protesting against the government's nuclear bombs, and something went wrong, and someone died. Now she is in prison. His father is long gone. Arthur spends his time lost in English mythology and unfulfilled dreams about the girls in his college. But one unintended incident - one moment of standing up for another underdog - leaves his mother in danger and him with orders to steal rare books from the college library. And the events that will unfold from that one moment of bravery will lead to slaughter.

The gang of six use a book covered in human skin in an arcane ritual, and summon the evil dragon King Sorrow. They enter into a pact - he will kill the couple who have been terrorising the group by easter, in exchange for their worship. But dragons are not to be trusted, and now they must repeat the ritual every year - including choosing who he will kill...

An epic, sprawling novel set in the 80s in Midwest America and going through to 2022 in England, with a massive cast led by six clever, damaged protagonists battling all manner of menaces, both supernatural and all too human.