Cordelia Carstairs has dreamed of her wedding her entire life. She’s dreamed of marrying James Herondale her entire life. But now, on the eve of her wedding to James, Cordelia is miserable. While James has agreed to marry her, they both know that their marriage is a sham designed to save Cordelia’s reputation—and that James is still madly in love with the mysterious Grace Blackthorn. But Cordelia’s romantic troubles are soon driven from her mind when a serial killer begins targeting the Shadowhunters of London, and anyone could be next.
Together with James’s trusted friends, the Merry Thieves, Cordelia, James, and Lucie Herondale must follow the trail of the knife-wielding killer through the dark and twisting streets of London. All the while, each is keeping secrets from the others: Lucie, that she is attempting to raise Jesse Blackthorn from the dead; Cordelia, that she has sworn fealty to an ancient mythical warrior whose power she does not truly understand; and James, that he is being drawn further each night into the dark web of his grandfather, the demon Belial, and that he himself may be the killer they seek.
First print edition contains special content, including bonus art and a new short story!
From #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Cassandra Clare comes the first novel in a brand-new trilogy where evil hides in plain sight and love cuts deeper than any blade. Chain of Gold is a Shadowhunters novel.
Cordelia Carstairs is a Shadowhunter, a warrior trained since childhood to battle demons. When her father is accused of a terrible crime, she and her brother travel to London in hopes of preventing the family’s ruin. Cordelia’s mother wants to marry her off, but Cordelia is determined to be a hero rather than a bride. Soon Cordelia encounters childhood friends James and Lucie Herondale and is drawn into their world of glittering ballrooms, secret assignations, and supernatural salons, where vampires and warlocks mingle with mermaids and magicians. All the while, she must hide her secret love for James, who is sworn to marry someone else.
But Cordelia’s new life is blown apart when a shocking series of demon attacks devastate London. These monsters are nothing like those Shadowhunters have fought before—these demons walk in daylight, strike down the unwary with incurable poison, and seem impossible to kill. London is immediately quarantined. Trapped in the city, Cordelia and her friends discover that their own connection to a dark legacy has gifted them with incredible powers—and forced a brutal choice that will reveal the true cruel price of being a hero.
