For fans of the esoteric, the dreadful and the beautifully sinister, prepare to enter a world where horror is real, secrets rot from within and the cost of truth is sanity.
Dark, elegant and chilling. Meet DARK MASQUERADE- Book 1 in the Order of the Steel Rose series by R. Slater, the enigmatic talent behind ArxNocturna and a rising force in supernatural and gothic horror. Known for his mastery of language, symbol and slow-burning dread, Slater is carving a distinct place in the world of supernatural fiction, with his talent for psychological complexity, haunting atmosphere and timeless terror.
Victorian London, 1891. Six strangers are summoned by cryptic invitation to the mysterious Order of the Steel Rose, a vanguard against an ancient and implacable evil.
Each of the six brings their own skills and expertise, as well as their own dark secrets.
To their horror, they learn that the supernatural is, in fact, very real. The hidden world they discover threatens not only their lives, but their sanity, as those secrets return to haunt them.
In the beating heart of the most populous city in the world, the six find themselves alone, battling against horrendous creatures lurking in the shadows, stalking people as prey.
Forced to engage in a terrible Dark Masquerade, straddling an invisible line between decorum and carnage, their actions set them on a dire path to discover what lies in the darkness...
Six souls, summoned by shadows, chosen to face a horror the world dares not name:
Axel Hastings - A young nobleman-turned-adventurer, hardened by near-death encounters in the Wild West, who possesses the extraordinary ability to perceive what others cannot.
Richard Carnby - A wily East End burglar haunted by inner demons, now hunted by a ruthless local gang, the Cable Street Boys.
Percival Wallace - A suave gentleman with a criminal's cunning, bound by a forgotten past to the darkness they now face.
Dr Stanthorpe Cunningham Whitehall III - A brilliant yet insufferable physician who straddles the line between life and death, not simply due to his skill as surgeon.
Jane Halifax - A brilliant scholar of esoteric lore, assuming her father's place in the Order, and able to manipulate reality - though at great peril.
Emma Westover - A stunning and seductive actress with an uncanny gift for charming others to do her will.
