Twelve
Twelve is the story of Aleksei Ivanovich Danilov, a captain in the army of Tsar Alexander I, sworn to defend Russia against the onslaught of Napoleon's Grande Armée in the autumn of 1812. He joins forces with a band of twelve Wallachian mercenaries, whose zeal and success in slaughtering the French invaders seem too good to be true.
Soon, Aleksei unearths the gruesome secret behind the Wallachians' abilities, and discovers that they make little distinction between Frenchman or Russian. His fight becomes not simply one against Napoleon, but against a far more dangerous enemy.
To read an excerpt from Twelve, click here.
The Danilov Quintet
Twelve is envisaged as the first in a quintet of novels which span Russian history in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ending on the Eastern Front of World War I on the eve of the Russian Revolution. Only one of the characters of Twelve makes it to the final novel - but which one?
The second novel of the quintet, with the working title of Thirteen Years Later is currently under development. It is set at the end of the reign of Tsar Alexander, in 1825, during the lead up to the December Revolution, when Aleksei, now a senior officer, receives a message from beyond the grave.
Publication
Twelve is due for publication by Transworld in October 2008. The sequel, Thirteen Years Later, has already been commissioned by Transworld, and the script is due for delivery around the time that Twelve is published.