Baiae is where the decadent elite of Imperial Rome come to play – a glittering Mediterranean resort full of glamorous people with dangerous tastes and dark secrets. It is also home to the court of the weary Emperor Hadrian who, if rumours are to be believed, has come to his seaside palace to die.
It is to Hadrian’s court that Lucius Crispianus, a young and lauded poet and philosopher, has been summoned by Felix Faustulus, a former family retainer now attached to palace security. Lucius believes he has been brought to court to entertain and, perhaps, enlighten the Emperor. But the real reason, as Lucius soon discovers, is more to do with his past connection to the court prodigies. Popularly known as “monsters”, these fabulous human specimens – dwarves and giants, conjoined twins, hunchbacks and hermaphrodites – are kept as entertainment for the Emperor and his court. Lucius’ late uncle and guardian had been Rome’s leading dealer in prodigies and it is this familiarity which Felix hopes to exploit as part of his investigation into a series of suspicious deaths among the Imperial prodigies. In particular, Felix wants Lucius to help him find a charismatic figure named Darius Barbo who has been stirring up the prodigies with dangerous ideas of self-empowerment and Eastern mysticism.
Having reluctantly agreed to Felix’s request, Lucius soon stumbles upon a murderous conspiracy involving not only the so-called “monsters” themselves but also Imperial politics at the highest levels, as well as a strange and seemingly sinister new religion. It isn’t long before the protection of the Emperor seems less of a priority to Lucius than the safeguarding of his own life and that of the woman whom he was forced to renounce ten years before. When he left Baiae under a cloud then, he had hoped never to see the hellish place of again. This time he’s hoping merely to get out alive.
