Vienna, 1912: Zoltan Vajda has spent nearly five years blending into the backdrop of Café Adriatic, where the bustling city's secrets are whispered but never heard. As a quiet waiter with a hidden past and an even more mysterious condition, Zoltan has learned to live unnoticed, surrounded by the familiar faces of the charming but troubled Maria Olbricht and the sharp-witted journalist Leopold van Kunstner. But beneath this calm surface, danger brews.

When Maria falls prey to her half-brother Felix's sinister schemes, and Leopold's bold articles provoke the wrath of a powerful nobleman, Zoltan is forced to confront the darkness he's kept at bay for so long. His emergence draws the attention of the relentless Dr. Conrad Rodak-Jurga, a folklorist obsessed with capturing a legendary creature-one Zoltan knows all too well.

As Vienna's streets become the stage for a deadly hunt, Zoltan must decide whether to flee once more or face the shadows of his past, risking everything to protect those he has come to care for. In a city where everyone has something to hide, Zoltan's secret could be the most dangerous of all.

Thomas Sundell is the author of A Viennese Waltz and A Bloodline of Kings (published by Crow Woods Publishing and, in Greek, as Philip of Macedon by Minoas SA), along with twenty-six other novels and novellas, including Massachusetts in Rebellion and The Consultant. He has also published two anthologies of short stories and flash fiction, titled Views of Imagined Lives. You can explore more of his work at sundellwritings.wordpress.com.

Praise for Thomas Sundell's Prior Novel, A Bloodline of Kings

"I read A Bloodline of Kings and hugely enjoyed it. It's a great story - I can't think of anyone writing on

that scale nowadays and it's done so well - a great saga!"

- Bernard Cornwell, author of The Saxon Tales series and the Sharpe series

"I am awed by the research and delighted by the literate and intelligent writing."

- Cecilia Holland, author of Great Maria and Until the Sun Falls

Thomas Sundell is the author, not only of A Viennese Waltz and A Bloodline of Kings (Crow Woods

Publishing and, as Philip of Macedon, by Minoas SA in Greek), but twenty-six additional novels and

novellas, such as Massachusetts in Rebellion and The Consultant, as well as two anthologies of short

stories and flash fictions titled Views of Imagined Lives. His works can also be found at

sundellwritings.wordpress.com.