Book II of The Ouroboros Cycle. London, 1888. A madman is terrorising the East End of London. But Dr Varanus Shasavani has far more pressing concerns than a lunatic in Whitechapel. Her charitable hospital is under siege by gang lords, her English cousins are threatening to steal her inheritance and her best friend is obsessed with Gothic novels. Not only all that, her son Friedrich has befriended an American who talks endlessly of wellness and yoghurt and her bodyguard is pestering her to return home to Georgia, half a world away. It seems everyone - friends, enemies and 'Saucy Jack' - conspire to interrupt her work. But Varanus did not become immortal just to let mad killers and distant relations get in the way of scientific progress. Though supernatural conspiracies and very human monsters confront her at every turn, she will stand firm against all the odds. After all, she is accustomed to fighting for what is rightfully hers... Illustrated by Laurence Gullo.