No Line Through The Dark

BOLOGNA, 1600. The geometric lines of the fencing academies are absolute. A gentleman fights with posture, grace, and an unbroken line of sight. But the dark alleys of the San Vitale gutters don't care about geometry. Nico is twenty years old, starving, and fresh out of a damp prison cell. He has no money and no shoes, but a lifetime of dodging city guards and leaping across crumbling rooftops has given him two things the wealthy patricians could never buy: explosive footwork and lightning-fast hands. When a desperate gamble leads him to steal the velvet doublet and masterfully crafted rapier of the notorious Count Alessandro Rossi, Nico thinks he has finally snatched his ticket to a life of luxury. Instead, he steps into a death trap. In the eyes of northern Italy, Nico is now the Wolf of Bologna. And Count Rossi has a lot of enemies. Trapped in a dead man's shoes, Nico is forced onto an escalating ladder of twelve lethal duels against the region's finest killers. To survive, the counterfeit duelist cannot rely on the elegant manuals of the masters. He must blend the precise science of the blade with the brutal, unpredictable instincts of a street thief. But as the blood pools on the cobblestones and his legend grows, Nico realizes the terrifying price of his new name: in a world of shadows, the spotlight is a firing squad.