The perfect killer has no friends. Only targets. For Durzo Blint, assassination is an art. And he is the city s most accomplished artist, his talents required from alleyway to courtly boudoir.For Azoth, survival is precarious. Something you never take for granted. As a guild rat, he s grown up in the slums, and learned the hard way to judge people quickly - and to take risks. Risks like apprenticing himself to Durzo Blint.But to be accepted, Azoth must turn his back on his old life and embrace a new identity and name. As Kylar Stern, he must learn to navigate the assassins world of dangerous politics and strange magics - and cultivate a flair for death.