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Twelve

Twelve

(The Danilov Quintet 1)

Summary

On 12th June 1812, Napoleon's Grande Armee forded the River Niemen and crossed the Rubicon - its invasion of Russia had begun. Charged with delaying the enemy's inexorable march on Moscow, a group of Russian officers summon the help of the oprichniki, a band of mercenaries from the outermost fringes of Christian Europe.

As rumours of a plague travelling west from the Black Sea reach the Russians, the Oprichniki - twelve in number - arrive. Preferring to work alone, and at night, they prove brutally, shockingly effective against the French. But one amongst the Russians, Captain Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, is unnerved by the mercenaries' ruthlessness...and as he comes to understand the true, horrific nature of these strangers, he wonders at the nightmare they've unleashed in their midst...

Reviews

  • An accomplished, entertaining blend of historical fiction and dark fantasy
    Lisa Tuttle, THE TIMES

About the author

Jasper Kent

Jasper Kent was born in Worcestershire in 1968, studied Natural Sciences at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, and now lives in Hove, East Sussex.

As well as writing The Danilov Quintet (his internationally acclaimed sequence of historical horror novels set in Russia) Jasper works as a freelance software consultant. He has also written several musicals.
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