Under a thin skin of false reality, the world is a "theme park for demons."

Adrian Brézé has built his morality brick-by-brick against his bone-deep lust for blood. Despite his Shadowspawn birth, he was a most effective member of the Brotherhood, a group sworn to destroy those of his ilk; with roots springing from the witchfinders of the 1600's. No matter how many died at his hands, the Shadowspawn threat kept growing. Jaded and without hope, he retired and maintained his life separate from the Council of Shadowspan and the Brotherhood. Suddenly, his twin sister Adrian's actions draw him into the fray once more.

His evil twin has never given up hope of turning Adrian away from his weakling human friends and back to her side. With world-changing plans in the works, she needs him back with the Shadowspawn even more than ever. Adrian kidnaps his lover and uses her as a plaything and blood source in sadistic sexual games knowing his tie with Ellen will send every painful moment echoing in his mind, forcing him to meet Adrian face-to-face and exchange his loyalty for Ellen's life.

A TAINT IN THE BLOOD contains intrigue, torture, and potential calamity set in a world of immortal monsters who look just like everyone else. Stirling has written an engrossing novel with a dark point of view explored in fascinating detail. Although good and evil are sharply defined, the book brings you into the antagonists' world via the eyes of the victim, Ellen, while still somehow maintaining a vein of sympathy for the bad guys. Not content with presenting the villains as one-dimensional adversaries, he has given the Shadowspawn a sense of humor that kept me intrigued, and counterbalanced the vivid darkness that imbues the storyline.

A TAINT IN THE BLOOD is the first in S. M. Stirling's Shadowspawn series, to be followed by A Congress of Demons slated for publication in 2011.